EE holds Techy Tea Party in the Houses of Parliament
Today, Francis Maude, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, joined MPs and Lords at a Techy Tea Party in the Houses of Parliament hosted by digital communications company EE. The event saw graduates from the National Citizen Service and staff from the Government Digital Service, volunteer to help guests from Age UK with their technology challenges. This activity forms part of EE’s commitment to improve the nation’s digital skills.
The event, held on the Parliamentary terrace with afternoon tea, was part of EE’s National Techy Tea Party Day, in partnership with Age UK, which saw over five thousand people get to grips with technology at EE stores, contact centres, offices and partner venues across the country.
Francis Maude, Minister of State at the Cabinet Office, with responsibility for leading the Government’s digital agenda, was the guest of honour at the Houses of Parliament Techy Tea Party and said:
“The world is changing and when you can bank online at midnight and shop from your bedroom, people rightly expect high-quality digital services from government.
“As part of our long term plan, we’re making government services digital by default. But we don’t want anyone to be excluded, and that’s why we’re determined to make Britain the most digitally capable country in the world.
“The UK Digital Charter will make it easier for people to build their digital skills, and it’s great to see events such as today’s techy tea party which will play a major role in helping us achieve that.”
Olaf Swantee, CEO of EE who attended the event, said:
“I’m grateful to all the Members of the Houses of Lords and Commons who joined us today to see the progress we’re making in supporting those most in need of developing these essential digital skills. Introducing people to the magic of technology is something we are passionate about and the first EE National Techy Tea Party Day has been a huge success.”
For more information about the initiative please visit ee.co.uk/newsroom.
For the EE Press Office please contact:
Olivia Burrell, Olivia.burrell@mcsaatchi.com, 07816 131 302
Rik Salmon, Rik.Salmon@mcsaatchi.com, 07834 980 541
About EE’s Techy Tea Party initiative
EE launched Techy Tea Parties in October 2012 as part of its commitment to building the nation’s digital skills and to enable its employees to support an important social issue. Since launch 1,000 EE employees have volunteered at over 100 Techy Tea Parties, in 26 different locations, across its offices, contact centres and in community venues.
Through the Techy Tea Party initiative EE has helped over 1,100 guests with their tech challenges. Feedback from Techy Tea Parties has been extremely positive, with 90% of guests saying they had learnt more about the internet and technology due to attending the event.
EE has also worked with local charities and leading digital inclusion organisations, including Go ON UK, which EE is a Founder Partner of, to develop activity and resources that will boost digital skills. In addition to EE’s Techy Tea Parties, this includes the EE Digital Living website ee.co.uk/digital-living and EE’s Digital Business website ee.co.uk/digital-skills. EE has also invested in training its frontline employees on device operating systems so they can deliver tailored support to customers.
EE has delivered a range of activities to help people build their digital skills. This includes delivering over 130,000 Advice for Parents guides to our stores and promoting our online consumer and business resources, which have received 160,000 views. Research shows we help 1 in 5 of our customers learn something about the internet or their device during an interaction with us in person or over the phone.
About EE
EE is the largest and most advanced digital communications company in Britain, delivering mobile and fixed communications services to consumers, businesses, government and the wholesale market. EE has approximately 15,000 employees and 550 retail stores, and serves more than 30 million customers across its mobile, fixed and wholesale businesses.
EE runs the UK's biggest, fastest and most reliable mobile network, pioneering the UK's first superfast 4G mobile service in October 2012. EE's 4G coverage today reaches more than 70% of the UK population. EE’s 2G coverage reaches 99% of the population while 3G reaches 98%. EE's superfast fibre broadband service covers 54% of the UK population, and ADSL broadband service covers 98.7% of the population.
In the last few years, EE has received extensive independent recognition including being ranked the UK's best overall network by RootMetrics®, Best network at the 2014 Mobile News Awards, Fastest Network at the 2013 uSwitch Awards, Best Network at the 2013 Mobile Choice Consumer Awards and What Mobile Awards, Network Innovation at the 2013 Recombu awards and Best Network for Business at the 2013 Mobile Industry awards.