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
A great night at Dynamites16
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
A conference missed and a day gained
I would like to have gone down to the Socitm conference this year but I was just too busy. It is a lame excuse I know as what makes me busy is, in large part, within my own control. I am busy because I choose to get involved in things when I could delegate them … Continue reading A conference missed and a day gained
Like a dog with a bone
I wonder sometimes if I am stretching myself a bit too thin. Can you be too thin? With so many interesting things to get involved in perhaps I am in danger of being Aesop’s dog, which while carrying a bone, sees its own reflection, tries to grab the reflected bone and loses the real one. … Continue reading Like a dog with a bone
Reflections on Ada Lovelace day
Ideas for my blog are like busses. You wait for ages and then they all come along at once. So it was yesterday when I wrote about the event in the Toffee House when I could and perhaps should have written about Ada Lovelace Day instead. Getting more young people into the tech industry and … Continue reading Reflections on Ada Lovelace day
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
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 