Accolade for council's digital team

Northumberland County Council has been shortlisted in this year’s Connected Britain Awards, which recognise skill in the technology sector.
Northumberland County Council has been shortlisted in this years Connected Britain Awards.Northumberland County Council has been shortlisted in this years Connected Britain Awards.
Northumberland County Council has been shortlisted in this years Connected Britain Awards.

The awards, which are announced on June 18, shine a spotlight on local authorities and superfast bodies who work to improve digital connectivity across the UK.The council’s digital team, from the information services department, were shortlisted in the digital skills category for their work in tackling digital exclusion and bridging the skills gap faced locally, regionally and nationally by providing a digital skills and inclusion programme to children, young people, teachers and parents/guardians across the county.The programme encourages the development of code clubs giving young people the opportunity to develop basic coding skills, delivers STEM activities with schoolchildren aged eight-13 both within the classroom and through extra-curricular activity.It is giving young people and parents/guardians an insight into the world of science, technology, engineering and maths and through the development of a digital skills offer across the Northumberland Library service.The programme also has cross-sector collaboration with key partners such as Lloyds Bank, The National Trust, Northumberland National Park and The Raspberry Pi Foundation.Steve Smith, Digital Design & Delivery Manager at Northumberland County Council said: “Northumberland is a sparsely populated and rural county, so it is vital that we ensure our workforce has the necessary digital skills to prosper and provide a sustainable economy.“We are taking direct action to ensure our future and current workforce have a strong and continuous pipeline of talent. We are doing this by working on an ambitious digital skills and inclusion programme which we hope will prepare our children and young people for the digital world, armed with a high level of skills to step into exciting careers in the North East.”The award ceremony will be held as part of the Connected Britain Conference at the Business Design Centre in London, and is being sponsored by ADTRAN, CityFibre, Ericsson, netgem.tv, Nokia and UK Space Agency.Further information on the programme can be found at: www.inorthumberland.org.uk/digital-inclusion