What a fantastic night it was at Dynamites 16. When Charlie Hoult, the chair of Dynamo North East, the organisation working to grow the tech industry across the region, asked if I would lead on the judging panel for last night’s awards it never occurred to me that standing up in front of everyone would … Continue reading A great night at Dynamites16
The Limitations of Language
As humans we live in a relatively narrow band. Our dimensions are at a human scale. In relative and universal terms, we don’t travel that far, certainly not up or down, we don’t live very long and we mingle with a small group of associates. Our languages have been developed to describe our world in … Continue reading The Limitations of Language
Talking the tech industry up
I had the pleasure of attending the #NewcastleGateshead Digital Sector Mapping event at the Toffee Factory this morning. I had never been there before. The event was to launch a report on the tech scene in the region. I’d contributed to the report, in part by pointing out that the North East is more than … Continue reading Talking the tech industry up
Office for Data Analytics
A significant group met at Sunderland Software City last week to move on the proposal for an Office for Data Analytics. I say significant but I can’t tell you how many there were. Perhaps there were twenty five or thirty. There was a photo taken if you need to count them. A smaller group of … Continue reading Office for Data Analytics
Recognise and celebrate
So I’ve made it to the end of this year’s Customer Service Week. Time flies when you are enjoying yourself. Those of you who have been following my blog will know that getting young people into the tech industry is one of the things that I am passionate about and that I have been … Continue reading Recognise and celebrate
Crazy systems implementation time
Day 4 of Customer Service Week and it is flying by. Today’s theme, as set by the Institute of Customer Services is Collaboration. On the back of this I thought it would be a great opportunity to go and sit amongst some of my customers. Now this is something I do quite often yet the … Continue reading Crazy systems implementation time
Consumer Priorities
This week it is Customer Service Week, an opportunity to celebrate all that is customer related. Yes, I know that every week should be the week that we focus on our customers. They are of course the life blood of any organisation yet this week is like their birthday, we are going to mark each … Continue reading Consumer Priorities
Stormy times
Do all projects go through the same phases? I think it was Bruce Tuckman way back in the mid-sixties that suggested that all teams had to go through a number of phase in order to grow. We know them well as storming, forming, norming and performing. It would seem he is proved right time and … Continue reading Stormy times
Smart Stanley again
Smart Stanley seems to be going well. The idea is to have a number of small projects that use digital to enhance the experience of the town for everyone that lives there, works there or is a visitor. We made a major breakthrough with the launch of the web site a few weeks back. Daniel … Continue reading Smart Stanley again
Opening data
I think I’m finally beginning to win the argument over open data. It has been a long haul and there are many sceptics. They are quite right to be so, as it’s very hard to prove the benefits of opening up data for all to see. Some projects have done it very well and are … Continue reading Opening data
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 