Local businesses urged to sign up for free DigitalBoost help

Clackmannanshire businesses looking to enhance their digital skills are being urged to sign up to a range of DigitalBoost workshops and online tutorials including an important new training programme on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).  

The new GDPR online tutorial and guide is a crucial addition to the DigitalBoost portfolio.  New data protection regulations will replace the current rules on the 25th of May 2018 and will apply to every business no matter what its size.

The GDPR will give greater protection and rights to individuals on how personal information can be used by organisations holding it.  As a result, businesses that do handle personal information will need to review how they manage personal data and how that data can be used to ensure they conform with the new regulations.  Failure to comply with the new GDPR regulations will result in significant fines being applied for infringements, which could be as much as €20m or 4% of a company’s global turnover.

The free seminars offered by Business Gateway provide local businesses with an opportunity to improve their technical and digital knowledge and help them use digital technology to enter new markets, trade internationally, increase efficiencies and potentially, employ more staff. 

Alison Davidson, Business Gateway Clackmannanshire, said: “Digital technology opens up new opportunities for all businesses and can help with growth aspirations SMEs may have.  Knowing how to make best use of digital and how it can impact and protect your business is at the heart of the DigitalBoost programme.”

As well as online and face-to-face training on the important forthcoming GDPR regulations, other areas of digital business skills include: 

  • Cyber resilience
  • Digital Marketing Strategy 
  • Paid for Advertising
  • Email Marketing
  • Facebook for Business
  • Twitter & Hootsuite
  • Cloud for Business Essentials
  • Effective E-commerce

In addition to the free half day workshops, 1:1 adviser sessions with digital specialists are also available. The fully funded sessions provide up to 21 hours of personalised digital support to SMEs. Access to 1:1 training and support is made by referral from a Business Gateway adviser.  

To date, 717 businesses throughout Scotland have benefitted from the 1:1 support, averaging out at 18hrs of time spent with each business resulting in over 12,900 hours completed so far on 1:1 support for DigitalBoost.

SMEs can also benefit from a free online Digital Healthcheck which will assess the businesses digital readiness through a series of questions. The results direct the business owner to relevant guides, online tutorials and workshops that might assist them further. 

To take the Healthcheck visit: www.bgateway.com/digitalboost.  DigitalBoost’s online tutorials can be found at www.bgateway.com/online-tutorials

Since launching in 2016, more than 9,000 business people in Scotland have attended over 1,300 digital skills workshops delivered by the DigitalBoost programme across Scotland to build their knowledge and expertise.  

DigitalBoost is funded by Digital Scotland and delivered by Business Gateway.

For more information on DigitalBoost and how the programme could help your business thrive call  01259 208426 or visit www.bgateway.com/clackmannanshire.