One of the outcomes of the exploration into Living Well in the Digital Age with Age Action Alliance has been the idea of a learning network. That took off in two linked directions:

Firstly, the Alliance endorsed the idea, because many of its groups are likely to find technology on their agenda, as we suggested here. The idea of a network within the Alliance is that it would:

• Operate across topic groups to help take forward ideas from the exploration, particularly for addressing social isolation and developing stronger, age-friendly communities
• Support practical learning among members in the use of digital tools and network methods
• Identify opportunities for specific initiatives in association with other groups

More about the network

Secondly, with support from the Alliance and Age UK, we were able to organise a networking event on July 28 2015, to develop ideas in more detail. We then ran a further event with Alliance groups in September, and began to map who's who and who is interested in what.

• Report of the July 28 event

During the early stages of the exploration we focused on the Big Lottery Fund's £82 million Ageing Better programme, and how that might benefit from inclusion of more on digital technology, and knowledge sharing.

How BIG could digitally amplify the impact of its £82 million investment tackling social isolation The Big Lottery Fund's programme would benefit from an innovative approach to promote storytelling and learning. 21/09/2014 on Socialreporter

Why BIG’s #ageingbetter programme needs added digital innovation Arguing for some digital innovation and knolwedge sharing in he £82 million Ageing Better programme. 07/10/2014 on Socialreporter

Building a knowledge sharing network about Ageing Better from the ground up How we might develop a networked approach to knowledge sharing. 14/10/2014 on Socialreporter

How about a digital innovation network for #AgeingBetter The Big Lottery Fund Ageing Better programme would benefit from a network about the potential for digital innovation. October 2014 Mediablends

Deep conversation needed on BIG’s Ageing Better community platform. How about asking people in for a coffee? Face to face conversations are needed about the online community. 22/10/2014 on Socialreporter

BIG plans to host an #AgeingBetter online community. Open, closed, connected …? Fist news that the Big Lottery Fund will be providing some support for online sharing of stories and experience. 21/10/2014 on Socialreporter

Some #AgeingBetter innovation resources - who do you follow, and which hashtags? A round up of resources about Ageing Better shows there's a lot happening but it is difficult to find and follow. January 2015 on Mediablends

Big Lottery Fund soft launches online community – and advertises an interesting job The Big Lottery Fund has opened up its online community platform for testing, and advertising a community manager post. 16/02/2015 on Socialreporter

Once the Big Lottery Fund had launched its online community, it became clear that it would mainly serve those receiving BIG grants, so we looked at other approaches, including working with the local government knowledge hub.

Where's best to evolve ideas on tech for Living Well - a hub or a network? There's currently no focus for discussion, and little cross-discipline networking, around issues of digital technology and living well. Could the public service Knowledge Hub provide an online platform - or would it be better to adopt a more networky light-weight solution like Slack.com? 12/05/2015 on mediablends.com

Developing a Digital Age Learning Network with Age Action Alliance AAA is supporting development of a cross-topic learning network on Living Well in the Digital Age following our exploration. 8/06/2015 on mediablends.com

More talent at the Knowledge Hub - but how to join up with Twitter? Knowledge Hub is becoming the safe and trusted online space for local government discussion. The challenge remains how to join up spaces with networks like Twitter. 11/06/2015 on mediablends.com