Digital future in young hands

SHAPING the future . . . Oldham College students Holly King and Thomas Miller

TWO Oldham College students will help shape the UK’s digital future as members of a new Young Digital Taskforce (YDTF) created by Labour leader Ed Miliband.

The invitation came after IT students Thomas Miller (18) and Holly King (19) attended a workshop at Google’s London offices with tutor Bob Dugdill, alongside students from eight other colleges.

Thomas said he was delighted to have been selected and revealed the experience had given him a valuable insight into the industry.

“I was chuffed to be one of only a few young people from around the country selected. It was great to see Google’s working environment.

“I got a lot out of the day and really enjoyed sharing ideas, research and perceptions with different people from different places. It also helped me appreciate how much we use IT at Oldham College compared with some other places.”

Students were asked what their priorities would be if they could build a digital school from scratch and interviewed industry experts to find out why and how they got into IT. Then then met Mr Miliband.

Bob Dugdill said afterwards: “It was a great opportunity for our students to speak with Ed and be involved in influencing policy. They felt they were being taken seriously.”

Next year Oldham College is opening the UK’s first ever Career College, which will specialise in developing skills for digital and creative industries.