Council Leader says it's 'back to the day job'

Councillor Richard Farnell, the leader of Rochdale Borough Council

Now that the general election is over, it’s time to get on with my day job says Councillor Richard Farnell, the leader of Rochdale Borough Council.

This means not only leading the council and acting as national vice chairman of the Co-operative Network, it also now involves a new role for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).

The region’s new mayor, Andy Burnham, has asked me to take the lead on Digital Region in the Greater Manchester Combined Authority cabinet.

What an exciting time to take on such an important position. It is our ambition to harness the power of technology to spark a new digital revolution which will connect people, businesses, communities and the world.

Of course, Rochdale has been leading the way for a number of years and has a well-established record, including our excellent annual Digital Festival.

I feel that the combination of Greater Manchester’s industrial, social and technological heritage and its thriving tech sector creates a unique opportunity to set an agenda of change and innovation never seen before in the UK. It will certainly make the world sit up and take notice.

I’ve been busy putting a team of digital leaders together from around Greater Manchester to help me drive our plans forward. A landmark summit set for July will stake out the city region’s claim to be the UK’s first digital hub.

The event has been organised for Thursday 6 July at the Museum of Science and Industry, at which the team and I will play a lead role.

It will showcase some of the stunning examples of the digital sector in Greater Manchester doing amazing, innovative and inspiring things, with discussions with these leading figures on how to build on the global success of Greater Manchester to have a greater impact locally and internationally.

As well as bringing together the digital pioneers, who are setting the global agenda for digital inclusion, members of the public will also be invited to attend to demonstrate that everyone’s welcome on the digital journey.

The summit will be the first major event of the mayor’s term, and will bring together the city region’s tech trailblazers and Greater Manchester people to shape a vision for a genuinely smart city-region where technology is used as part of the solution to the biggest issues we face in society.

The time and date of the summit will be announced shortly.