Community tech for places

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A shared digital platform co-created by towns, not rebuilt from scratch.

Our mission

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To create shared digital infrastructure built collaboratively by towns, councils and local partners, so every pound invested improves the platform for everyone.

Why local web platforms are stuck in a rut

Across the country, the same pattern repeats.

One council commissions a microsite. Another funds a business directory. The BID pays for a white label community portal. None of these projects talk to each other, share features, or build on what already exists.

Each town ends up paying for the same thing multiple times, and progress barely moves. Not because people don’t care, but because every project starts from scratch.

Everyone builds the same thing, but separately

Money is spent repeatedly on identical features

No shared roadmap, no shared learning, no shared progress

Projects launch, look good for a bit, then stall

Innovation resets every time a new project begins

Each place pays more and gets less

No one owns the long term improvement

Community tech

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Not vendor tech

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It’s time to break the pattern

In a traditional vendor model, the provider dictates pricing, features and the roadmap. Each town is just a customer. Most of the money leaves the local ecosystem, and very little improves the shared infrastructure. Community tech flips this.

Communities own the purpose

Residents, businesses, charities and community groups shape what the platform is for and how it should work.

Partners fund improvement, not profit

Councils, BIDs and sponsors fund facilitation, development and long term improvement, instead of vendor margin.

The platform is a shared asset

Every town uses and improves the same infrastructure. Features funded in one place roll out to all.

Fair and sustainable

This creates a fairer and more sustainable model, because value stays within the local ecosystem.

Who owns what in community tech

People, business and charities

They own the content, the interaction and the value created in the system. They decide what matters in their town.

Councils, BIDs and partners

They own the investment and the stewardship, not the profit motive. Their funding ensures:

your

town

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This is the shared infrastructure layer that all towns use. It is held in trust for participating places and is not built to extract profit.

Think of it like roads, libraries or transport networks, but for local digital infrastructure.

What towns gain from a shared digital infrastructure

Budgets combine instead of compete

Collective investment unlocks innovation no single town could afford.

Real community ownership

Residents shape the activity. Local businesses benefit from visibility and commerce. Charities gain shared reach.

Every town is future-proofed

Features and capabilities improve over time, so no one is stuck with a static site that ages badly.

Local value stays local

Money funds capability, content and development rather than shareholder returns.

Digital inequality is reduced

Smaller or less wealthy towns get access to the same infrastructure lift as larger, better funded areas.

Networks, not isolated projects

When towns collaborate, they become a learning network. Networks can achieve things individual councils never can.

These benefits compound over time as more towns contribute and learn together.

Join the first towns shaping YourTown

We are bringing together a small group of pioneering towns, councils, BIDs and partners who want to explore this Community Tech model together, in practice.

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