Three organisations which provide services, knowledge and advice to improve the technological capabilities of the charity sector will work more closely together to tackle the challenges faced by the sector.

Lasa chief executive, Terry Stokes told delegates at the organisation’s 'Powering Up the Third Sector' IT conference yesterday that over the last six months he had been having regular meetings with Richard Craig, chief executive of the Charity Technology Trust (CTT) and Nigel Davies from IT4Communites.

Also speaking at the conference Martha Lane Fox again called on charities to do more to develop an “internet first” attitude, meaning that services should be provided primarily online.

She said that government was currently “leading the way” with its new web services which was, “slightly shaming for the private and charity sector.”

In response Stokes said: “Obviously that is not a position we want to be in and Lasa, CTT and IT4 Communities are looking at how we can get the message out there about services for the sector.”

As a result of the discussions at the conference, Stokes said Lasa “will be looking to build on sharing content” but stressed that, “it is a process not an event.”

Lane Fox added that she thought one of the barriers was funding bodies not appreciating the importance of technology, she said: “People don’t want to fund core costs and that’s absolutely bonkers.”