Since we started at Cosmic, the Apprentice team have been out and about all over Devon as part of Cosmic’s Digital Inclusion project; in this blog I’m rounding up the top 5 Devon Digital Inclusion events from the past 6 months.
5. Cullompton Gadget Show
We went along to a coffee morning at Cullompton Community Centre to do some research on behalf of Devon County Council based around whether people require training and general information about tablets and mobile computing solutions. The response was really positive and already we’ve booked in five one-to- one sessions to teach people how to use a tablet they were given for Christmas or to advise them on what they might need to get online.
4. Working links Torbay
We attended an event at Working Links Torbay which was a gathering of those who can offer unemployed people opportunities to training and skills to help make them more employable. This day was really rewarding as some of the people there were really interested and we’ve signed a lot of people up to attend workshops like ‘Your Online Reputation’ which looks at your personal Social Media and what a potential employer might think when they see it.
3. Smartphone Focus Group
Last week I attended a research event based around the use of smartphone and mobile internet. The event was held with a group of tenants from Teign Housing. Some of the things researched were- how many people have smartphones and what operating system was preferred. Also what sort of price range they expected from what value of contract or sim-only deal. I found doing the research really insightful because for a lot of the residents, tablets were the preferred choice of internet access compared to laptops and smartphones. Tablets are a fantastic and affordable alternative if all you need to do is check emails and browse the internet.
2. Recovery Network Gadget Show at Politmore House
We work with a huge variety of people within our digital inclusion objectives, one of which is recovering addicts. We went to Poltimore House on a fresh winter morning to hold a stand at their event. We took along our full range of gadgets aswell as our brand new Cosmic Banners and some information about a fantastic new online service where people who are recovering from an addiction can track their progress and include goals and rewards for themselves.
1. Swindon Disability Confident Gadget Show
The top event that I’ve attended is this gadget show which was all about how you can adapt technology (particularly in the work place) to make it more accessible for people with disabilities. Not only was the technology we took to the event exciting but we also were privileged to hear Simon Weston OBE give a talk on how employers can utilise skills which comes from some disabilities. One example he gave was using an autistic person’s precision and attention to detail for jobs in the business where accuracy in figures is key. The tech we took to this event was a little more than we’d usually bring. We had four iPads which each had a presentation rolling about iPad accessibility options, Dyslexics fonts and browsers and other apps and features which can help disabled people. We also took along our Leap Motion controller and one of the games which demonstrate its capabilities to open people’s eyes to how easy and affordable it is to buy a motion based controller for your PC if an employee found it hard to use a key board or a mouse.
Digital Inclusion Award
It’s good to look back on the summer sometimes, especially when the temperature is due to drop any day now, but it was particularly special for us here at Cosmic because we won an award. The Technology4Good (Technology for Good) awards were held in early July in London and Julie and Kate attended in their best bib and tucker. The journey from Devon was well worth it though as they picked up an award; the BT Get IT Together Award, sponsored by BT. The award was given for our work in tackling digital exclusion by working with communities, individuals and businesses in South West England for over 20 years. As part of the award (apart from a very shiny and unique trophy) a video was commissioned to highlight the work that we’ve been doing right here in Devon.