Tameside Council wastes 36,000 on Second Life flop
IT chiefs at Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council in Greater Manchester squandered a integral of £36,665 building a virtual town hall in online globe Second Life. The council scrapped the project after one year suitable to the low levels of interest shown in the service.
The council said it was “looking at innovative and modern ways to communicate with citizens” at reduced costs. It thought that online transactions would have existence the cheapest way to do this.
The figures were revealed lawful claim to a Freedom of Information request put forward by digital marketing doer Liam Billington, who asked for a breakdown of costs including monthly divulsion, the number of staff using the project and the cost of their time.
The knowledge of facts, supplied by Norman Crawford, head of ICT services at Tameside, too showed that the council spent £6,150 on a indirect museum and a further £400 on a “black gallant on a horse”.
“It was a proof-of-universal project with a finite resource so we did not continue the plan,” said Crawford.
He added that interest in Second Life did not become greater, so the council decided to abandon plans to go to the nearest stage of the project.
The site ran from early 2009 and was not retained on the model of the contract ran out on 31 March 2010.