NWRC students explore digital industries at festival

Fifty students at the North West Regional College have been exploring enterprise and employment opportunities within the Digital Industries as part of an Entrepreneurship Festival.
Students from the NWRC keeping busy at the entrepreneurship festival.Students from the NWRC keeping busy at the entrepreneurship festival.
Students from the NWRC keeping busy at the entrepreneurship festival.

The festival coincides with Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Enterprise Week. Young Enterprise is running a Digital Masterclass at the College tomorrow morning (Wednesday), with the aim of encouraging and inspiring young people to pursue a career in the digital sector.

The Digital Masterclass gives young people an opportunity to develop creative ideas for the next ground-breaking app, pitch their ideas and receive feedback from industry experts. John Peto from the Nerve Centre and Rosalind Young from Derry City and Strabane District Council will be judging at the event, listening to elevator pitches from the students at the end of the workshop. The judges will be looking out for quality and viability of ideas, presentation skills with prizes up for grabs for the best pitch.

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John Peto from the Nerve Centre said: “Digital skills are at the heart of the modern economy. If our young people are not digitally literate then they will find themselves at a huge disadvantage in the job market, but it’s not just these skills that are essential. Softer skills in entrepreneurship and business are always going to be the key drivers for our economy and the Young Enterprise model here delivers both the digital and business skills to our young people. It’s an essential tool in helping the students of today become the economic drivers of tomorrow and that’s why I, and the Nerve Centre, are so pleased to support it.”

During the masterclass, guest speaker and local entrepreneur Alastair Cameron, co-founder of Startacus, will talk to the students about his digital business and how he got to where he is today. There will also be a group of volunteers, or “App Buddies,” on hand to assist the students with their business plan by sharing their experience, giving advice, and answering technical questions. Having digital industry experts to assist will give the students a detailed insight careers in the industry.

Young Enterprise is part funded by the Department of Education.

A number of events have been taking place locally to celebrate the success of Young Enterprise in the community.