Press Release 19th May 2023
Full STEAM Ahead for Tipperary County Council’s BCP Digital Network Finalists in 5 of the 10 Categories in the National .IE Digital Town Awards 2023
Boher and Rossmore lead the way in Digital Transformation in their communities.
A great example of a community being given the digital tools and taking it from there.
The .IE Digital Town Awards to be held at a Gala event at the Hodson Bay Hotel in Athlone on May 24th are the first pillar of activity under .IE Digital Town which has been developed to address digital enhancement and adoption in Ireland. The Awards promote awareness, knowledge, use and understanding of digital in Ireland by its citizens, businesses and communities. They also highlight the benefits and possibilities of digital and celebrate the digital achievements of local towns, big and small.
Digital offers the opportunity to create new ways of doing things, promote innovation and breathe new life into local communities, making them more attractive places to live and work as well as contributing to a more sustainable future. They are also a chance to recognise and show appreciation to the volunteers across the country who devote their spare time working tirelessly to enhance their local area, towns and villages and the finalists are some great examples of towns that are using digital to fight back and use online resources to help renew and invigorate their local town.
Tipperary County Council BCP Network are finalists in five categories as follows: Digital Education - highlighting the opportunities of STEM and how technology can shape their world and Agri-Tech with a programme which was developed to help farmers use SMART technologies to make their work easier, save time and money as well as improving the sustainability and profitability of their farm.
RossmoreScratchers BCP Club is a national finalist in the Community Digital Category which recognises digital initiatives and projects that support improvements for the community. Rona Toft Volunteer Digital Champion shares her excitement about being shortlisted and states “We are proud to be among the .IE Digital Town Awards finalists. We have people of all ages and backgrounds taking part who are skilled in different areas. By working together, having old mentor young, young inspiring old, we participate, learn new skills, and most importantly, have fun. GO ROSSMORE SCRATCHERS!!! "
Boher BCP Club are blown away to have been nominated as finalists in two categories Newcomer and Digital Rising Star. Their digital journey commenced in September 2022 with the introduction to Micrsosoft Dream Space and Trinity College OurKidsCode programmes. Nicola Welford Digital Champion nominated for Digital Rising Star expresses her ” delight to have this acknowledgment for all the work Boher Community does and recognises through the support of Tipperary County Council, Microsoft and Trinity College we now offer fully inclusive and accessible family coding programmes in our Community Parish Hall BCP and Microsoft Dream Space programmes in our local Primary School. Our journey has been full of wonder and awe, colour and learning and it has ignited our community in Boher. We look forward to developing our coding club going forward'.
According to Simon Howe Broadband Officer “The Tipperary BCP Digital Network enables our rural communities to provide a space for digital projects through STEAM for children and adults alike. It is volunteer-led, has diverse community involvement, a clear understanding of community needs, all of which is managed by local volunteers. A great example of a community being given the digital tools, and taking it from there”.
Joe MacGrath, CEO Tipperary County Council congratulates all the finalists and wishes all, the best of luck on the day and is delighted to see Boher and Rossmore get the recognition much deserved by their respective communities for the volunteer hours they have given to ensure their community is part of the Digital transformation.
ENDS
For further information, please contact Tipperary County Council
Tina Mulhearne 086 8364645 tina.mulhearne@tippperarycoco.ie
Notes to Editor
https://www.dreamspace.ie http://ourkidscode.ie/
BCP’s (Broadband Connection Points) funded by The Department of Rural and Community Development working with Tipperary County Council and the local communities have delivered high speed broadband to specified Broadband Connection Points (BCPs) across the county and offer Digital Skills training to their respective communities.
Microsoft Ireland’s Dream Space™ provides immersive, research-based STEM experiences for students and teachers to enhance their STEM skills alongside crucial social-emotional skills such as empathy, creativity, ethical decision making and collaboration. Informed by research, the MS Dream Space model aims to tackle the diversity within the STEM pipeline, the digital skills gap and the digital poverty inequalities that exist in our society so that every person has the opportunity to engage in STEM education and understand how technology can shape their world.
OurKidsCode is based in Trinity College Dublin and funded by Science Foundation Ireland and aims to improve participants confidence in computing and technology with parents learning alongside their children by participating in creative computing workshops for families of all shapes and sizes.
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