Biography
Steve is currently on full-time Secondment to Becta, working in the Home Access team as the Local Authority (LA) Engagement Manager. Steve has the responsibility for delivering the strategy to maximise the benefits of Home Access, within Children’s Services and wider LA objectives, and thus encouraging parents and families to use ICT at home for more than just educational purposes but for accessing public services and in areas such as adult learning, employability and regeneration.
In Steve’s substantive role as Head of ICT Strategy, People Communities and Society at Oldham Council; he coordinated the Pilot Home Access project which was a phenomenal success with more than 4,200 individuals receiving a Home Access Grant.
Steve joined Oldham Council in April 2006 and has been responsible for the leadership of a number of different teams; including amongst others, the Directorate ICT team, the Oldham City Learning Centre & E-Learning team and a Technical support team. Steve has successfully led a number of significant Borough-wide initiatives including; the rollout of Active Directory across the schools network, the implementation of a Virtual Learning Environment used by 94 Primary Schools and 9 Secondary Schools, and achieved a ‘Worlds first’ with the procurement and implementation of 185 High Definition Videoconferencing systems, deployed across all Oldham’s Educational establishments. He was also responsible for the rollout over 1,300 devices on the Computers for Pupils scheme.
His personal experience consists of over twenty-two years in Education, including Lecturing in Electronics & Communications Engineering, ICT and media production, Key Stage 3 ICT Consultancy, , and over four years as a Director of a City Learning Centre, as a member of a Senior Leadership team in a Secondary School. Steve has also worked in industry for a commercial IT training organisation, as an Electronics Test Engineer and as Electronics Service Engineer. His academic qualifications include a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) and the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH).
