The Oxford Internet Institute has just published its fifth biennial Oxford Internet Survey (OxiS) into internet use in Britain. This latest piece of research identifies one major new shift in the way in which users access the internet with the arrival of ‘next generation users’. It also highlights a number of other developments about internet use, which all local public service decision-makers should understand in assessing how people access and use their services.

“Fast broadband is absolutely vital to our economic growth, to delivering public services effectively, and to conducting our everyday lives.”

“But some areas of the UK are missing out, with many rural and hardto-reach communities suffering painfully slow internet connections or no coverage at all. We are not prepared to let some parts of our country get left behind in the digital age.”

Are you clear about how social networking can deliver value and reduce cost for your organisation? If not, you may not be benefiting to the full.

Having a customer service strategy is something that most customer-facing organisations accept as a necessity - but how far does it go in terms of specifically identifying the role of the web, the role of social networking, and taking account of access from smartphones? Currently few councils address these issues either in their strategies or in the practical reality of their websites.

The second of our two briefings on ‘Digital by default’, (July 2011) focused on the need to get the supply side right by optimising the online customer experience. This Briefing focuses on the demand side. Encouraging takeup of the online offering has, in turn, two aspects: ensuring that people have access to public services online and persuading people to use them.

We have the skills and the tools to help you achieve a website that delivers for your council - that is a website that gives real value in terms of the services it delivers to your customers and the savings it makes for the council. We cover all that is needed, summarised below:

The website is there to earn its keep - if you are going to spend an average of £50-£100k a year on keeping the website up to scratch (and if you're spending more, look very carefully at the costs), you need to be assured that you are achieving at least 5-10 times this in direct benefits and savings - in other words, the website should be saving you at least £1 million a year.

The website is the kingpin of customer access to both information and services - whether it is for self-service by the customers themselves, or for use by staff in providing information or services to customers by phone or in face to face contact. All customer-facing services should be supported by the website.

The customer is deliberately placed at the centre of our approach to an effective website. Everything about the website needs to be focused on the customer's needs and on meeting these in the most cost-efficient way.

For a step by step guide, click on the diagram to see more detail