Can it really be three years since I became the chair of the North East ICT Managers group? It’s only a small outfit but it is something that I really enjoy being part of. Tempus fugit as they say around here, especially when you are enjoying yourself. It covers the ICT departments of the seven … Continue reading Three years of @NEICT
An excellent schools conference
Wow, what an excellent schools conference we had on Friday. Apart from some minor issues with the technology (there were plenty of ICT people in the house) it was our best by far. Amanda said that they get better and better every time and so the next one has to be even better. Having it … Continue reading An excellent schools conference
Engaging citizens online
A workshop on ‘Engaging Citizens Online’ sounded up my street. It was only a short event focussed mainly on social care applications and was at Rainton Bridge between Durham and Sunderland. Keith, one of my colleagues was giving a presentation. He did a good job. Of course it wasn’t clear from the title whether we … Continue reading Engaging citizens online
Writing discipline
The discipline of writing something every day can be trying. Some days the words come easily yet there are other days when nothing flows. Today is one of those days. I think it was Carlos Ruiz Zafon who said that the only way to write was to sit at the desk and squeeze your brain … Continue reading Writing discipline
A whacky challenge.
Neil had been given a challenge. We’d seen a lot of organisations that had been through so called modern or new ways of working or had moved to fancy new accommodation. Some has been successful whilst others hadn’t or rather some bits had worked while others were clearly work in progress. What we had seen … Continue reading A whacky challenge.
The entire world is foreign
Neil and I stayed overnight in London. It is something that I am not that keen on doing, being away from home overnight that is, but I was persuaded otherwise. The prospect of going up and down in one day is getting too much for me. We came down to visit some companies who had … Continue reading The entire world is foreign
Relationship economy
We are in a relationship economy. I have heard this said many times over the last few months. Shirley mentioned it at the last Institute of Customer Services event in Edinburgh. But what does this mean? I must admit that ever since the banking crisis the world has never felt the same. It might be … Continue reading Relationship economy
Staying safe online
It must be the conference season. Do we have such a thing or are conferences all year-round affairs? Perhaps it is just that I happen to be going to more at the moment. Next week we have our schools’ conference and in the middle of March I will be at a regional ‘Enabling Safe Business’ … Continue reading Staying safe online
Smart cities
There has been a lot of talk about smart cities, using technology to either make the cities function better or perhaps to enhance the experience that visitors enjoy. There also seems to have been a fair amount of money available to develop smart programmes yet I have been left with the impression that there has … Continue reading Smart cities
Big bang theory
The day of reckoning is drawing nigh. Around the nones of April (look it up if you need to) we are cutting over from the old customer relationship system to the new. It will be an exciting and nerve wracking time depending upon your disposition. The question on everyone’s lips however is do we go … Continue reading Big bang theory
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 