A BLAENAU Ffestiniog Gwynedd councillor has helped launch an “ambitious” new scheme to bring Dwyfor and Meirionnydd to the forefront of the digital age.

A new project is in place to help enable everyone throughout Gwynedd to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by digital technology and the internet.

Digital Resilience, led by Gwynedd Council with the support of the charity Citizens Online, is a partnership aimed at ensuring that improvements in broadband connectivity will encourage better computer skills among all sections of society.

Cllr Mandy Williams-Davies, Gwynedd Council’s Cabinet member for the economy, who also represents Diffwys and Maenofferen, said: “There is a clear correlation between poverty and poor digital skills and improving those skills is an integral part of our strategy to tackle poverty.

“This is where Digital Resilience has a crucial role to play. We are determined to equip all our people to take full advantage of opportunities offered by the latest digital developments.

“For those who are out of work, the internet is an invaluable tool for job hunting, and computer literacy becoming more important by the day as a key skill.

“It is anticipated that there will be changes to benefits by introducing universal credit that affects a number of people in Gwynedd, access to a computer or tablet device as well as having digital skills are essential in order to make claims for universal credit.

“The project is also about improving digital skills in rural communities in particular. As well as the need for getting high speed broadband in all parts of the county, it is also important that local communities learn how to make full use of the new technology.

“One of our key aims, for example, is to help older members of rural communities to get online. We need to encourage them to see how simple it is to use things like e-mail and how easy it is to keep in touch with friends and relatives be they a couple of miles down the road or on the other side of the world.”

See the full story in this week’s Meirionnydd edition of the Cambrian News