There is still a lot of confusion over the government’s plans to introduce an apprenticeships levy. At least in my mind there is and it would seem that I am not alone. When I raised it with my colleagues on the NECIT group none of them had heard about it yet it is going to … Continue reading Apprentice Levy
North East Data Group part 2
This is the second part of the presentation I gave last week to the North East Data group at Campus North on what Durham is up to with Open Data. I am pleased to say that our elephant has given birth. Mother and baby are doing well and we are off and running. We are … Continue reading North East Data Group part 2
North East Data Group part 1
Last night I had the pleasure of presenting to the North East Data group at Campus North on what Durham is up to with Open Data. There were twenty or so people in the room and it was interesting how many of them I already knew. It was a story of two halves, with my … Continue reading North East Data Group part 1
Fresh perspectives
I read that Taiichi Ohno would draw a circle on the floor and make his new disciples stand in it and observe how things really worked. He would make them stay there until they had a strong understanding of the business. I think it was in the book ‘The Machine that Changed the World’ in … Continue reading Fresh perspectives
Open journalism
I’ve never really thought about being a journalist. To be honest I’m not really sure what they do. Yes, I get that they write articles for newspapers, magazines and the broadcast media but I am assuming that they do more than that. Surely it is something to do with stories, finding them and writing about … Continue reading Open journalism
We talk about diversity
There is a lot of talk about diversity in the media these days. Only this morning when I put on the telly there was an article on assessing disabled people’s ability to work. The government has promised to overhaul the work capability process and has promised to make it more personal. Their hope is that … Continue reading We talk about diversity
Taking time to get out there
We always try to start our meetings off with some good stories. It gets everything off on the right tone. Brian told us how he had been out doing some mock interviews with some school students and how much he had enjoyed it. Some of the young people were very good while some were less … Continue reading Taking time to get out there
Skills mapping
The two things that we have got involved in as part of the North East Combined Authority Digital Leads Group are connectivity and digital skills. The former has developed into a full blown pitch for a substantial amount of money to create a massive 5G test bed across the region. Keep your fingers crossed. The … Continue reading Skills mapping
Socitm spells collaboration
There is certainly no shortage of collaboration across our region at the moment. The Dynamites awards last week showed how willing people are to work together and this was followed the next morning by our latest regional Socitm meeting. Graham, Richard and I have had a bit of a campaign to get more numbers to … Continue reading Socitm spells collaboration
Inspiring value trees
Another day, another value tree workshop. OK, it’s only the second one that I have ever been to yet it seems that I am spending more and more of my time thinking about our Inspire programme and looking at modern ways of working and culture change. I’ve blogged about the value tree approach before and … Continue reading Inspiring value trees
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 