“ One of my strengths is that I never give up – so I didn ' t . I found some partners and we shared an ambition ”
CEREN CLULOW DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY MANAGER , NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
Determined to get the project underway , Clulow established links with influential businesses , 5G network providers , tech companies , and academic institutes primarily within the Midlands , to draw out the best of both nature and technology for the purposes of conservation , education , health , and social mobility .
The process of getting the project off the ground was much more difficult than first expected , however , as Clulow explains : “ I contacted major national operators , getting fully closed doors in my face and ‘ no , we can ' t do it , it ' s too difficult ’ – some parts of this forest are really protected , so you can ' t even walk in them . And , of course , with hundreds of thousands of years of forest , people think it ’ s the last place you can bring in innovation , which is why everybody was saying , ‘ no , it ' s impossible ’.
“ One of my strengths is that I never give up – so I didn ' t . I found some partners and we shared an ambition . We thought about the kinds of use cases , identifying visitor experience and environmental management , both of which are really key at the moment . Then I applied for the funding , where I must have convinced DCMS , and secured £ 10m from them to bring the first 5G signal into a forest setting .”
EXECUTIVE BIO
CEREN CLULOW
TITLE : DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY MANAGER
COMPANY : NOTTHINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
INDUSTRY : PUBLIC SECTOR LOCATION : NOTTINGHAM , UK
Ceren has been working for the Council almost 15 years . Over the last few years as Digital Connectivity Manager , Ceren has been responsible for driving the use of digital technologies to improve business productivity and economic growth across Nottinghamshire . During this time , she has single-handedly secured several million pounds of funding via numerous bidding processes to extend the digital connectivity in Nottinghamshire . Ceren is committed to seeing Nottinghamshire at the heart of the digital industry and at the centre of the regional , national , and international tourism map .