Chat with ….
In this series of articles, we catch up with some of those involved in innovation within Lancashire.
This month we catch up with Dan Knowles.
Dan is tasked with building a Digital Ecosystem within Lancashire as part of the Lancashire County Council team.
We asked him his thoughts on what is happening in Lancashire now and how he sees it progressing.
What do you see your role as part of the team?
As with most of my work, community engagement and relationship building play a key role. I love connecting people and providing a platform upon which other people can benefit, usually through events and networking.
What are the key things you want to highlight in Lancashire?
It’s a wonderful place to live and you have everything you need within an hour. Great towns and cities, fantastic coastline, and beautiful scenery. Add to that world class businesses, affordable houses, terrific schools. Then, imagine all this and being able to live in a place where it is likely your commute could be less than 10 minutes to an incredible workplace.
How do you feel Lancashire is being perceived and what can we do to change/improve that?
I think we worry too much about how we are perceived. What people perceive is probably true. My reality is that Lancashire is a place with world leading digital and tech businesses and lovely, lovely people!
How do you see Lancashire moving forward and becoming a force to be reckoned with?
We are a force to be reckoned with.
What has been your proudest moment to date working in Lancashire?
From a personal point of view, working on Lancaster on Ice was incredible. It took the whole community to allow us to deliver that project, subsequently recognised as one of Europe’s Top 10 Winter Events. It was both a community and commercial success and it was incredible to win Lancashire Best Large Visitor Attraction at the 2019 Visit Lancashire Award.
Being involved in Fraser House, a seminal project for Lancashire, and Lancashire Innovation Festival have been amazing.
Finally, tea or coffee?
Morning has to be coffee, with a preference for tea in the afternoon.
