A digital growth programme aimed at supporting micro and small businesses has been extended to include three additional free webinars.
Thanks to the success of the inaugural Digital Growth Programme, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council and Ards and North Down Borough Council have announced the initiative, which has supported over 150 businesses in the regions since it was launched in January, has been extended to include the additional webinars over the next four weeks.
The project, which is part funded by Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth & Jobs Northern Ireland (2014 -2020) Programme, has already provided one-to-one mentoring support from a digital expert to 45 businesses since March and over 100 businesses have availed of the series of free Go To Webinars.
The new webinars, which are open to all micro and small businesses within the two regions, will include Cyber Security: What Your Business Needs To Know on Tuesday June 30. A host of experts, including the Northern Ireland Cyber Security Centre, will cover a range of topics including why SMEs need to have cyber security on their radar; practical steps that can be taken to protect against cyber security breaches and will look at the current threat landscape and how businesses should keep up to date with this.
Mayor of Ards and North Down, Councillor Trevor Cummings said: “We are delighted at the response from local businesses to the Digital Growth Programme and that we have been able to provide much-needed support at this very challenging time. To ensure we can help as many local businesses as possible to learn new skills and develop confidence and knowledge on a range of digital elements, we are pleased to extend the initiative and have introduced a further three, free webinars.”
Chair of Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, Councillor Laura Devlin added: “At this time, when an increasing number of local businesses are going digital, we thought it was vital that one of the Go To Webinars was about Cyber Security. Just last month, one of the world’s biggest airlines was compromised after a serious cyber security breach which resulted in access to the personal information of 9 million travellers. By having the proper information on this issue and knowing what steps to take, it will hopefully help prevent such activity happening to local businesses.”
The Digital Growth Programme Go To webinars are:
- June 22: Make Your Website Work Harder For You
- June 30: Cyber Security: What Your Business Needs To Know
- July 7: Creating AR and VR Experiences in Your Business
- August 5: Instagram for Business
- September 17: Email Marketing for Autumn; Tools, Campaigns and Tips
To be eligible to take part in the Digital Growth Programme Go To Webinars, your business must be located in Ards and North Down Borough Council or Newry Mourne and Down District Council. To apply for one-to-one mentoring support or to register for one of the webinars go to Digital Growth Programme.
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