You would think I had enough of clusters, what with trying to lead CyberNorth and playing an active role in UKC3, the UK’s cluster of cyber clusters. Apparently not as this week I found myself at my first meeting of the North East FinTech Steering Group. Not that this was its first meeting, I think … Continue reading My first FinTech Cluster meeting
Why bother with PMQs?
Prime Minister’s Questions is a peculiarly British piece of political theatre where members of parliament get to ask the Prime Minister questions. A clue is in the name. There is a protocol behind how questions are asked, alternating between the government party and opposition. MPs have to put their questions forward in advance and they … Continue reading Why bother with PMQs?
Where are we meeting?
As the world gets back to some kind of new normal I am still struggling with the protocol around meetings. It could be just me but last week I turned up to a face to face meeting tio find that the other participants had expected it to be online. Fortunately one of the people was … Continue reading Where are we meeting?
Industry Advisory Board
Image thanks to BDaily I wasn’t able to make the last Digital Advisory Board at Newcastle College. I think it was something to do with a hospital visit but that is all behind me now. This week though, I was able to make it. I had said that I would give a lightning talk on … Continue reading Industry Advisory Board
Northern Cluster Collaboration
I’m back thinking about clusters again, especially as last week saw us kick off a project to look at how the three Northern cyber security clusters can work more closely together. We have started off by commissioning some work to see what relevant ‘assets’ the region has. There are things that are strongly or more … Continue reading Northern Cluster Collaboration
Where are you from?
Image thanks to Evening Standard This is a question that I have asked many times, indeed I have been asked it many times as well. I am from North Shields as it happens. It is often a good way of opening a conversation and I usually use the word hail rather than come. It sounds … Continue reading Where are you from?
Less than half
According to the information gathered during the 2021 census, less than half the population of England and Wales describe themselves as Christian. At 46.2%, this was a dramatic fall from 59.3% seen in the last census carried out in 2011. This is interesting as the number does not necessarily reflect the number of people going … Continue reading Less than half
Podcast
Image thanks to Custom Apparel Podcasts seem to be all the rage and so why not get on board. I was going to say that there was no bandwagon that CyberNorth wouldn’t jump on yet I have managed to avoid Facebook and Tik Tok, at least for now. My favourite podcast at the moment is … Continue reading Podcast
Empower
What an amazing event! Last week saw us back at Newcastle United for an introduction to cyber security for 300 year 8 girls from ten schools across the region. This was part of Empower week, developed by the Sage Foundation and CyNam, the cyber security cluster around Cheltenham. CyberNorth was asked to get involved with … Continue reading Empower
The right to determination
Image thanks to NewsMD Following yesterday’s UK Supreme Court ruling that the draft Scottish Independence Referendum Bill is outside the powers of the Scottish Parliament the media has got the wrong end of the stick. It has followed the angle of what this means for independence and how it affects those in favour and those … Continue reading The right to determination
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 