On Monday myself and Kate were invited to represent the best of Devon digital business at an event in the Houses of Parliament. What a privilege it was to present Cosmic to the range of MPs and Ministers who came along including Vince Cable, Minister for Business, innovation and Skills and also Maria Miller, Minister for Culture and Media.
Our local MP Neil Parish was a great host for the event and promoted Cosmic and our work in the local rural areas of Devon and Somerset. Councillor Andrew Leadbetter, another great supporter of our work locally, gave the audience attending the event a good overview of some of the key issues facing Devon and how the investment in digital infrastructure and skills can make such a major contribution to the growth of our economy over the years ahead. Maria Miller was very interested to hear about our involvement in the Connecting Devon & Somerset programme providing much needed digital skills development for local residents and businesses. She clearly has an excellent understanding of how the investment in digital infrastructure will provide so much potential for business! skills and community to grow.
Vince Cable was keen to hear more about our apprentices and how we have designed and developed our own approach, modules and training to support the talented team we have in place. He is also a keen advocate of social enterprise and expressed a clear interest in a visit to Honiton to find out more so watch this space Others who attended the event and spoke with us included Gary Streeter who is MP in South Devon, and Baroness Jolly who has an interest and involvement in supporting organisations working with Dementia Sufferers and so it was great to talk about our work with Age UK Devon and provide her with copies of our video case studies on this work. And of course all rounded off with a super cup of tea! (In a Parliamentary Tea Cup of course!)
