Digital Peninsula Network Ltd. (DPN) is a partner in this three and a half year project, led by Portsmouth University, which officially began 7th June 2017, with a total budget of €5.8 million and 11 UK and French partners. Approximately €646,000 total budget to DPN, 69% grant funded, 31% partner contribution.

Community development, social and economic inclusion and equality are at the heart of this research and innovation project, and our aim is to produce a scalable and transferable methodology that can be applied to broader demographic sets and geographical regions for continuing impact.

The sudden growth of the digital/creative sectors has led to a digital skills shortage across these (by 2020, in both France and the UK, 90% of jobs will need digital skills). Employers across the FCE area demand employees have digital skills, and 72% of these will not consider applicants without them (UK government survey). Therefore, these sectors represent significant employment opportunities for our target group.

PONToon seeks the co-creation of a model fusing digital technologies and creative industries with existing employment support services to improve access to, and the quality and impact of, these for our target group.
Women from diverse backgrounds experience difficulty in accessing equal training and employment opportunities across the FCE area. PONToon partners have identified challenges in service delivery faced by our target group preventing them from moving closer to the workplace.

Budget received from the France (Channel) England Programme: €4 million ERDF

Total Project Budget: €5.79 million

Project Duration: 3.5 years

Programme Specific Objective: Social Innovation

 

PONToon Project privacy statement is available here: Privacy statement