Digital technology surrounds us day in and day out; at its best we shouldn't even notice it because it simply enables us to do the things we want to do.  At its worst it can be frustrating, scary, isolating and costly when it doesn't work or isn't accessible.

It is all too easy to shy away from technologies we don't understand, or to get over excited about the use of the latest, greatest thing, like ‘apps'.  So in this complicated landscape that is ever changing and unpredictable, what is the role of local government?

A stand out characteristic of digital technology is the unpredictable speed of new developments.  Facebook and the iPad, two ubiquitous symbols of the digital age are only a few years old; so unless there is a crystal ball lurking in a town hall somewhere, local government should not really be in the business of directly picking winning technologies.

However, councils are ideally situated to champion the digital needs of their communities; engaging directly with providers as part of their market-shaping role, so that providers better understand the needs of communities, and the need for accessible
and reliable digital infrastructure.

In the current climate the importance of local government's role in economic development is well understood.

What needs to be better understood is the potential of digital technology to aid this.

Councils have an important role in nurturing new business growth in the digital field through the range of local levers available to them.  They should also be supporting high streets and small and medium sized enterprises to make the transition to fully exploit digital technology.  That could be through enabling access to information or brokering relationships with those that have skills and knowledge, such as universities or trade associations like Wired Sussex.

Let's be clear, there are no game-changing technological interventions for local economies that local government can magic into place.

But councils need to be conversant and supportive of the digital agenda.  Alongside this is the crucial role of ensuring adults and young people are resilient and adaptable, so that they have the best chance of accessing this growing part of the jobs market; championing the need for employment advisors who understand the job market and open realistic horizons for young people – creating the digital entrepreneurs of the future.

Of equal importance is the role of local government in enabling society to use digital technology to help meet its own needs, where it is best able to.

Putting people in touch with each other to share knowledge, capacity and support – exploiting platforms that enable crowd sourcing or support networks.  Many of these civic networks have developed with no involvement from local government and work successfully.

The importance of local government's role is in thinking strategically to understand the systemic potential of these to meet social needs, and how public services need to adapt to add value and address resulting market failures for the most vulnerable.

Beyond this leadership role, there is also a place for local government as users of digital technology.  This means using it to its full potential, to make a step change in all activities by making best use of the wealth of data held by councils.

From using data to get a more complete view of residents and service users' lives, needs and capacity, through to using predictive data analytics to identify and address problems before they happen.

Local government also needs to ensure its democratic and consultative processes are inclusive of the new digital channels of engagement, whilst maintaining connection to the existing channels.

It's also worth noting that as well as supporting digital skills development amongst their citizens, councils have their own skills challenge too.  Like central government, councils need urgently to consider how they can attract, retain and develop staff with the right digital skillsets.

As direct providers of services, councils should be pooling resources and efforts, to access the expertise they need and collectively bargaining to get the best prices, not the highest.

At a basic level it also means using digital technology to improve the experience of using public services, whether that is through co-location of services or hassle free transactions on line.

If councils can shift even a third of their demand to self-service channels, for those who want to, this has the potential to unlock significant resources to support those with the greatest need.

Of course digital technology is not the answer to everything; crucial as it is, for many people in specific circumstances it cannot replace human contact, but it can enable that contact to be much more effective.

Jason Kitcat is leader of Brighton and  Hove City Council and a member of the advisory group of NLGN's Shaping the Digital Agenda project