FourNet has created the first digital-channel map of local authorities’ demographic trends around citizens’ technology usage to help councils with their digital transformation plans.
The customer experience (CX) specialist’s Local Authority Digital Transformation Index shows technology usage alongside every council area in England, Wales and Scotland. The index combines census information with FourNet’s CX analysis to plot the channels, such as landline, mobile, email, web, social media or chatbot, which residents are more likely to want to use in each council’s area.
According to FourNet’s index, the UK’s most ‘digital savvy’ populations (as a percentage of the index’s UK average) are City of London (133 per cent), Tower Hamlets (126 per cent) and Lambeth (122 per cent). These council areas have the fewest elderly residents and the highest ratio of so-called ‘digital natives’ (incl. ‘gen x’, ‘millennials’ and ‘gen z’).
Based on FourNet’s CX analysis, the index shows that those three local authorities will need to focus mostly on digital channels when communicating with their local residents and considering newer social media platforms such as TikTok to remain engaged with them in future.
At the other end of FourNet’s index is North Norfolk with the least digital savvy population in the country (78 per cent), with more residents from the ‘greatest generation’, ‘silent generation’ and ‘baby boomers’ than anywhere else in Britain and who are more likely to want to use landlines, post and in-person appointments.
Alan Linter, group director of customer experience, FourNet, said, “We have designed a go-to-map for every local authority considering the next steps in their digital transformation plans. Our analysis of the demographics of local populations will be vital for councils to consider when deciding how to invest in technology and designing their services for the future.
“There is a huge difference in the way the people interact with council services from the top of our index to the bottom, and councils ignore that data at their peril.”
