Throughout the COVID pandemic, charities in Gloucestershire have shown remarkable resilience and ingenuity. Supporting some of the most vulnerable individuals and communities, many charities were able to pivot both their delivery model and their fundraising strategies, increasingly engaging online with beneficiaries and funders. Yet charities have faced the same increased threats as other organisations in learning to live and work online. In fact, a recent survey suggested that 41% said they had experienced at least one cyber attack last year – up from 28% the year before, but almost certainly still an underestimate. A combination of constrained resources, levels of threat awareness, and limited access to skills and other resources, means many charities are, in fact, living below the ‘digital poverty line’. Those they support are often at the greatest resulting risk. It doesn’t need to be this way. Join Tech4Good SouthWest and CyNam on 28th April to meet the challenge head-on. Charities, tech firms, and the public sector are invited to a discussion and planning event on how to ‘Make Gloucestershire the safest place for charities to live and work online’. What to expect on the day As home to the National Cyber Security Centre, and with CyNam leading efforts to create a thriving wider ecosystem, Gloucestershire is well-resourced to develop best practice for the UK in this field. Tech4Good SouthWest, meanwhile, is a developing regional network of organisations from across the sectors, with a growing track record of helping others harness technology to transform society, communities and lives. While this event is focused on practical planning here in Gloucestershire, the firm intent is to pilot activities and learn lessons that can be scaled across the region and wider UK.
