The Government's 2007 Digital Challenge is over but 'Digital' has more to offer Bristol than ever before.  Bristol City Council, Watershed, Knowle West Media Centre and Nameless therefore invite you to an open meeting through which we want to,

• remind us of the Digital Vision for Bristol that Connecting Bristol developed in response to the Government's 2007 Digital Challenge
• review the progress that has been across the city in he last 3 years
• identify new Digital priorities for Bristol
• relaunch the Digital Bristol Momentum Group

 
Looking Back
On 19th February 2007, Barbara Janke (Council Leader), Dick Penny (Watershed), Stephen Hilton (Bristol City Council) and Makala Cheung (Knowle West Media Centre) presented the city's final Digital Challenge Vision and Bid to a cross-Government panel. (view the presentation and the bid document)

Bristol's Bid was the culmination of 18 months work, which began in July 2005 when George Ferguson presided over the first gathering of the Digital Bristol Momentum Group – a group whose 'open source' philosophy and ways of working secured cross-party political support and a  commitment from business, academia and the wider community to making Bristol the country's leading Digital City (view the Supporters film ).
 
Looking Forward
Three years later, the Government's 2007 Digital Challenge is complete and much progress has been made.  In the last 3 years new digital partnerships and projects have been established such as, Pervasive Media Studios, the new eco-build Knowle West Media Centre, DEHEMS, Green ICT, B-Net, B-Open and the Media Sandbox, Digital Neighbourhoods, Wi-Fi Hotspots, Home Access and the Bristol Computer Re-use Scheme amongst many others.  This activity has had impact locally and nationally, for example with Martha Lane Fox (Government Digital Champion) and at EU level.  Connecting Bristol has helped build confidence that Bristol's Digital+Green Future is something now worth investing in.
 
New Opportunities
The end of the Digital Challenge is a significant milestone.  It is timely for us to get together in order to discuss how connectivity, creativity, digital participation and the 'Internet Economy' in Bristol will continue to help the city benefit from new opportunities such as, the National Infrastructure Plan, Centres for Technology and Innovation, Smart Grids, Smart Cities, Localism, Open Data, and even the Big Society. 

2.00 Chair's Welcome - Dick Penny

2.10 Bristol Digital+Green Futures - Welcome from Barbara Janke, Council Leader

2.20 Looking Back - participants invited to consider the Digital Vision set out in Bristol's 1997 Digital Challenge bid and to identify what progress has been made in the last 3 years

3.20 Bristol Digital Futures - participants invited to identify and discuss future Digital priorities for Bristol

4.20 Relaunching the  Digital Bristol Momentum Group

4.30 Drinks