The Welsh Government is planning to use a digital platform to engage with people with connections to the country, with the aims of boosting its profile, economy and reputation.
It is looking for a contractor which could build or use an existing digital system to locate members of the Welsh diaspora, particularly influential ones; promote messages from the Welsh Government and track feedback; and track economic benefits through tourism, investments or donations.
In a prior information notice published in the Official Journal of the EU, the Welsh Government estimates the contract’s value at £240,000, although it has not yet confirmed it will go ahead. If an existing system is used, it is looking for a supplier that specialises in diaspora management.
International strategy
The work would support an aim in Wales’ international strategy, published in January 2020, to connect to 500,000 people overseas. The strategy’s core ambitions involve raising the country’s profile, growing the economy and establishing Wales as a globally responsible nation.
According to the international strategy, there are 1.8 million people of Welsh descent in the United States. The Chubut Valley in Patagonia, Argentina is home to around 5,000 Welsh speakers who run eisteddfods, the descendants of 150 Welsh nonconformists who travelled there in 1865 to set up a colony.
Image by iStock/Oleksii Liskonih
