Ignite

I've been meaning to post about the Ignite event I went to last week at Old Broadcasting House in Leeds.

There were tons of speakers and I couldn't possibly blog about all of them so i'm going to have to limit myself with a couple of highlights:

* Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino: Could hardware hacking save us?

I really liked Alexandra's talk, mainly because I bought an Anduino set a couple of months ago:

http://www.tinker.it/en/Products/ArduinoNG

I also liked hearing about the different events that have been held and the idea of the creative aspects of building something physical yourself and how this can allow people to think more creatively in the future. I also had a quick chat with Alexandra afterwards about having an event in the region which I intend to follow-up on at some point, maybe this is something for me to discuss with OS4B as it is an open source product...

* Stuart Childs, Richard Garside, Dave Lynch: FriiSpray digital grafitti w/IR tracking

I also liked this presentation about using the wii with an electronic whiteboard to create an electronic spray can for grafitti work. My brain is still thinking about this one as i'm convinced there are all sorts of possibilities with it. Could be great for events, has obvious tie-ins with young people and artists, could have potential for interactive advertising boards? A way to collate information? I like the idea of having one somewhere that people can just come in and use and a snapshot is saved to file every 30 seconds or something like that... Anyway still thinking about it which must be a good sign!

There were loads of other speakers who were all very interesting and often very entertaining, i'm assuming the slides will go up online somewhere soon at:

http://www.meetup.com/Ignite-UK-North/calendar/9017862/

Barcamp Winner - Dom ‘The Hodge‘ Hodgson

Happy New Year! The first post of 2009, how strange...

Anyway so just a quick one to let you know that the winner of the Yorkshire Forward competition at Barcamp Sheffield has been announced, you can see Jag's post (and the winning video) at:

http://barcampsheffield.net/announcements/live-like-barcamp-sheffield-people.html

Dom's video had over 400 visits within the time frame and we will be presenting him with the cheque on Wednesday evening at Sheffield's next Geek Up meeting. The fact that i'm a massive, life-long Pulp fan had no bearing on the chosen winner and is just a happy coincidence :-)

Digital Awards

In case the Innovator/09 competition below isn't your cup of tea we've just opened the nominations for the 2009 Yorkshire Digital Awards!

This year you can either nominate yourself for a category, or nominate another company that you work with which you feel deserves some recognition. We've heard from previous winners that the competition has a really positive effect on sales due to all the free promotion your company receives so I *really* recommend entering if you can. Especially at this time of year when you don't want to start a whole new project but need something to keep you busy for your last afternoon in the office ;-)

Anyway, categories are:

Best Web Design Company

Best IT Consultancy

Best Business to Business Website

Best Business to Consumer Website

Best Application of Internet Technology

Best Digital Start Up

Best Game

Best Entertainment Site

Best e-Learning Initiative

Best Application of Mobile Technology

Best New Talent

To enter all you have to do is fill in a form which can be found on the website:

http://www.yorkshiredigitalawards.com/

If you're feeling flush with Christmas cheer there are also still a few categories that need sponsoring, in which case just drop me a line.

Finally, even if you're not entering and not sponsoring, don't forget the actual awards ceremony itself. A great craic and with over 300 people attending it's a good way to meet some interesting people (including a few of us lovely Yorkshire Forward folk). Be warned the tables fill up really fast so if you want to go you need to book your place pronto!

Date: Thu 7th May, 2009

Venue: Saviles Hall, The Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds

Barcamp Sheffield Update

Oops! Took a little longer to get to this post than planned!

Barcamp Sheffield was fabulous, a thoroughly enjoyable experience even though it meant working over a weekend :-) Everyone I have spoken to who attended agreed that it was a very positive event. The competition is still ongoing. The idea behind the competition is that attendees should create 'something' online that is promoting either Sheffield, Yorkshire or Barcamp Sheffield and whoever drives the most traffic *and* is the most creative wins!

I shall most definitely be posting a link to the winner on here.

I'm now hoping there may be space for some more Barcamps around the region, maybe York, Hull etc so will have to start subliminally putting ideas into the right peoples head :-)

BarCamp Sheffield

So this time it's Sheffield's turn to host a BarCamp. I won't explain the concept again, I did that when I blogged about BarCamp Leeds.

Sheffield is looking very exciting! It's from Friday evening until Sunday evening so quite a long one, meaning of course that they can pack loads more in. I know they've sold out tickets for Friday and Saturday but I understand there are a few left for the Sunday so if you're around I recommend you attend:

http://barcampsheffield.net/

We shall be holding a competition this time with a prize and everything, as soon as the details are released I shall add some info on this blog. I shall also take some photos of the 'agenda' on the day to give a better feel of the type of session that's covered, but people are already making suggestions on the forum so you can have a look. Of course you never know what will actually happen until you get there!

Victor Watson - Print Yorkshire

It may seem like I spend my whole life at events but I honestly don't! However, I was lucky enough yesterday to attend the book launch of The Waddington's Story by Victor Watson (President of Print Yorkshire).

Victor gave a very interesting speech. The part I have dwelled upon most is his statement that he considers his success in business to be due to the fact that he has always trusted people, he may have been taken for a ride a couple of times, but still feels that trust in individuals is the most important thing. He then added that most people underestimate the importance of personal relationships in business.

I thought this was partcularly good to hear as this is what we're all about at Yorkshire Forward and specifically my role in supporting industry through networks. Sometimes individuals don't immediately understand the importance of a network to help businesses to grow and prosper but it is through networks that important relationships are estbalished and the ripple effect is often surprising.

Victor obviously sees the advantage of networks through his involvement with Print Yorkshire, a network for the print industry in Yorkshire and Humberside. More information about Print Yorkshire can be found at:

http://www.printyorkshire.com/

Information about Victor Watson and his book launch can be found at:

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/businessnews/Victor-by-name-and-victor.4589286.jp

Digital 20/20

Monday I was at the launch of Digital 20/20.

It's a project with two strands, one covers digital and ICT skills and the other strand covers business adoption of ICT.

Both are a partnership of public and private sector and the fantastic turnout at the launch event from both sides shows how many people are already committed.

Firstly, looking at the skills strand. The 12 key themes are:

Current Workforce:
1. Next generation user skills
2. Higher level skills
3. Business ICT adoption
4. e-Learning habit

Future Workforce:
5. Specialist curriculum
6. Digital skills across the curriculum

People outside the Workforce
7. Digital literacy – citizens & jobseekers
8. Engaging under-represented groups

Information, Advice & Guidance
9. Improving the IAG portfolio
10. Attracting and retaining talent

Delivery Capacity
11. Digitally adept educators
12. Specialist capacity – facilities & trainers

With regard to the business adoption of ICT strand, Action Plan Priorities are:

P1 – Communication: Promote the business benefits of ICT
Devise and deliver a regional marketing and communications approach that focuses on the business benefits and drivers of ICT adoption rather than the technology involved. This activity should seek to:
provide the wider business support community with a range of promotional tools to demonstrate business benefit to customers
exploit linkages with complementary initiatives, such as innovation

P2 – Transition: Stimulate progressive ICT adoption
Increase business performance as measured by key indicators of ICT adoption and implementation, using effective customer segmentation to move companies up the adoption ladder.

P3 – Synergy: Link ICT with agility in innovation and enterprise
Position ICT clearly within the business support offer, seeking to improve the levels of ICT literacy and awareness, thus contributing to wider initiatives such as innovation and enterprise.

P4 – Capability: Build recognition of the benefits of ICT literacy and training
Work with regional partners and providers to enhance the connection between business support delivery and the ICT skills agenda, improving business recognition of the benefits of ICT training.

P5 – Impact: Increase ROI and business performance
Work with commercial ICT providers and resellers to improve the overall quality, coherence and impact of the customer offer and therefore to maximise return on ICT investment and business performance.

P6 – Leverage: Maximise regional impact, competitiveness and investment
Identify the opportunities arising from increased ICT adoption and work with partners in the public and private sectors to maximise regional impact, competitiveness and investment through a range of complementary initiatives.

There is loads more info on the website:

http://www.digital2020.org.uk/