I’m trying to help grow the IT industry across the North East. This is why I am a member of Dynamo North East, Digital Union and Socitm. All of these organisations have the same problem - a lack of meaningful data. I would like to know how many businesses there are in the industry across … Continue reading Why can’t I get the data?
What is ethics anyway?
Thinking about ethics does your head in, or at least it does mine. I bought a download of ‘A Short History of Ethics’ by Tim Dalgleish, to try and get a better understanding of the subject and listen to it in the car but miles can pass by without me being any the wiser. The … Continue reading What is ethics anyway?
Corporate Social Responsibility
‘We never use the phrase Corporate Social Responsibility, or the initials CSR at Ringtons.’ said Richard from the Newcastle based tea and beverages company. ‘It sounds too much like a crime. Instead we focus on our business doing good things in the community.’ I was at Muckle LLP for a breakfast event as part of … Continue reading Corporate Social Responsibility
I am an artist
What is art? Not that old chestnut again. Such open questions are almost impossible to answer. Even artists themselves have been struggling for millennia to come up with an explanation and in the end usually resort to saying ‘if I need to explain it to you then you won’t understand.’ Allan Kaprow put it that … Continue reading I am an artist
Zero hours
Zero hours contracts have had a hard time of late and quite rightly so. They are the scourge of the gig economy with the employer having the upper hand in the relationship with their workers. Turn up and there might be work for you but if not you will just have to go home again … Continue reading Zero hours
A Nokia person
Someone once described themselves as a Nokia person. I think it was Chaditsa at the CyberFest event in Teesside University. Everyone laughed as they understood what she meant. She was not at the bleeding edge of technical innovation and was more comfortable with the simpler user interfaces that we used to enjoy. I realised that … Continue reading A Nokia person
North East Fraud Forum
I went to my first North East Fraud Forum event last week. There is such an overlap between fraud, cyber crime and business ethics that it was a natural fit with many of the other things that I am involved in. It was also the first time that I had been inside the Virgin Money … Continue reading North East Fraud Forum
Oh no! NHS targets again.
I think it was as far back as 2013 that I last wrote about targets in the NHS. Not that they have ever been very far away but once again they are all over the news. Apparently, nearly one in five NHS hospital services has failed to hit any key national waiting-time targets in the … Continue reading Oh no! NHS targets again.
Say R
My head is still hurting. I have spent all morning in an introductory session to R, the open source statistical computing and graphics package. Now, I am no programmer and much of what was shown to us went over my head but I am blown away by the power of the tool set. It gives … Continue reading Say R
University Technical College
When I was asked if I would give a careers talk at the recently opened North East Futures UTC, I said yes. I’m always happy to help in whatever way I can to bring young people into the North East’s technology sector and also like to get involved in new things that challenge me. The … Continue reading University Technical College
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 