A panel of “Digital Champions” from across Britain and Ireland will attend a free Digital Skills Conference in Derry next week.
The conference, being held in Holywell Trust on Thursday, 18 September at 9.30am as part of the “Go On NI” campaign, is being organised in conjunction with Derry City Council and CultureTECH.
The city’s Mayor, Cllr Brenda Stevenson, said the event was a “great opportunity” for the wider public to understand the importance of basic digital skills.
She said: “The GO ON NI campaign is a great initiative aimed at improving digital skills across the board.
“They are attempting to alleviate the alarming statistic that 21% of the UK population lack basic digital skills.
“This conference will focus on how skills can be improved in both voluntary organisation and in commerce, as well as signposting and highlighting excellent local based resources and organisations that can help.”
As well as a variety of “champions” from the Britain and Ireland, a number of “breakout sessions” will take place outlining how technology can improve voluntary organisations.
The event will also showcase examples of “Tech for Social Good.”
Cllr Stevenson added: “This is a culmination of CultureTECH’s week of digital engagement, which will see 1,000 ‘digital champions’ being crowned.”
Among the speakers will be Naomh McElhatton (Digital Advertising NI and Northern Ireland’s Digital Champion); Andrew Jacobs (Head of the Digital Inclusion Unit, Welsh Government and Deborah Matthews (Coast & Country Housing and “GO ON UK’s North East Martha”).
Those interested in attending the conference, which is free, are urged to register in advance at
http://2014.culturetech.co/event/2014-09-18/digital-skills-conference