Local residents and businesses are invited to gaze into the future of a digital Dorset. It’s a chance for local people to tell Dorset Council how they see their county developing and to think about the type of technology and systems they might be using in five, ten or 20 years.

• Will Agritech be Dorset’s top industry, will drones deliver our food, and will our children be educated online?
• How will tech reduce Dorset’s carbon consumption, provide career opportunities for school leavers or enable people to remain living independently as they age?
• How could we use technology in a rural county to tackle some of our local challenges?

Residents and businesses will be invited to Breakfast at Kingston Maurward College, Dorchester to hear what experts think are the future digital opportunities and developments. This will stimulate discussion of what our residents believe could and should happen, so we can start to consider the type of infrastructure and skills we need to facilitate for Dorset to realise its ambitions.

Digital Leaders in Dorset and elsewhere in England who have been involved in digital place strategy or smart cities agendas are welcome to share ideas and thinking to what a ‘rural smart place’ might look like.

Group discussions will be covering different topics on:

• Health and care
• Economic growth
• Education and learning
• Environment (including future mobility and carbon)

There will be a keynote session from a futurologist, round table discussions, and a chance for people to learn some new digital skills for the workplace.

The session will start a countywide discussion which will feed directly into the new Dorset Council’s Digital Place vision and strategy.

This event now has been fully booked!