Tag Archives: NextGen

Waiting at Wembley for Winners

30 Sep

wembley-imgIt’s always a tense time two weeks before any big conference event.

Right now the build-up to NextGen 13 is no different as the pace and pressure of programming for the conference builds.

The pressure may be even greater – not least because the 2013 themes are different in many ways.  One of the downsides for a conference series that’s enjoyed a long run (it’s the 6th year for this two-day event) is that many of the players must get up to speed with the changing agenda.   The annual conference reflects the topics of its time – not the battles of the past.

It is much easier for the speakers.  Recruiting them involves ensuring that they are relevant and have something new to contribute.  Exhibitors, all no doubt leading busy lives focused on their own rationales, only wake up to new themes at the eleventh hour.  Maybe this annual event provides a time for reflection – a chance to check alignments with market realities?   And delegates?  The regular attendees will once again be shocked that the agenda has shifted and newcomers will be intrigued to find they are not alone in their recent penny-dropping digital discoveries.

Amid the hectic noise of last-minute programme adjustments and choreography there’s one small corner where silence has momentarily settled.   The Digital Challenge jury is out and until 14th October fingers may be crossed but no one will tempt fate by speculating on winners.  Even here, in the Digital Challenge awards, the shifting agenda is apparent.  Three new trophies signal the importance of Skills, Innovation and Open Data – key topics that rise above the basic broadband battles.

The 2013 NextGen focus is not, of course, a secret.  Last December’s paper on ‘Economic Revitalisation’ set the scene.  The conference theme, ‘Changing Agendas: Shifting Broadband Futures’ was proclaimed earlier in the year along with an expansion of five topics that have since informed the final schedule.  And locating the event at Wembley itself carries a massive message about regeneration.  Delegates have options to visit the Stadium, the Arena backstage, local fibred premises and even Brent Council’s new Civic Offices to understand the realities of fully fibred networks and designs for sustainability.

Pulling it all together may be hectic.  Fitting all shades of opinion (and a fair few technologies) onto the platform and into the exhibition will demand another two weeks of patient attention to detail.  And the winners will be found in all those who change their agendas to meet the shifting demands of the UK’s digital economy.

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NextGen 13, October 14th & 15th, at the Wembley Hilton, London, is the UK’s leading event for Next Generation broadband activity

This annual landmark event will build on Digital Scotland 2013 and the Intelligent Cities conference (Leeds) – events also managed by NG Events Ltd.

NextGen 13 provides the focus to take forward the UK’s digital access and application requirements debate. An exhibition and trade show will run alongside the conference.

Registration for Delegates

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And finally – well almost finally – well, just another 38 days to go

5 Sep

Here in the early morning, the sun only just above the horizon, this extraordinary feeling of calm will surely not last – so there’s every reason to gently coax continuing slumber like a dream that you’d rather not let go.  Reality will make itself felt soon enough.

One by one the clamour of action points, promises, the sins of omission, the list of ‘things to do today’, will break through but right now there is space and time to think; to reflect that it’s nearly a month since that last blog note which, in retrospect, signaled the start of frenzied activity.

There are, no doubt, some well-ordered folks whose passage through life proceeds at a carefully moderated pace with commas in all the right places, no excessive use of capital letters or exclamations and with upright thinking always on an even keel.  They must be very boring.  Most of us are blown about by the winds – our progress being the aggregate of umpteen diversions, a touching faith in our navigation, a strong hand on the helm and another glass of red wine.

This current calm descended yesterday mid-day and marked the end of an intense month – perversely that month when so many folk push off for a rest.

It was the month when the short-listed contenders for this year’s Digital Challenge are converted into a complete set of final submissions to the judging panel.  It was the month to confirm the availability and willingness of the judges.  A month to redesign the scoring methodology and contemplate trophy designs.  It was a month of double-checking that the ideas flowing from the contenders would be fully reflected in the emergent agenda for NextGen 13 in October.  And yet this was only a small part of the annual orchestration of speakers, exhibitors, venues, sponsors and the briefs for session leaders – a massive workload (and risk) that falls on the remarkably resilient shoulders of colleagues Marit and Andrew.

But here, just for this short moment, it is calm.  The Digital Challenge entries are in the hands of the judging panel for the next three weeks.  Weather forecasters predict that this summer sun will end abruptly tomorrow with a 10-degree drop and the onset of autumnal rains.   And with the cold showers of tomorrow’s reality we must shake off this dull sloth and move on.

For those of you who’ve been away on holiday – welcome back.  The countdown to NextGen 13 has begun.  This year’s event will be at Wembley and while we are preparing the pitch, prizes and programme it will be the mix of delegates, speakers, exhibitors and sponsors who will come together to make a great event, ‘Changing Agendas: shifting broadband futures’.

YEEKS – only 38 days?!

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Digital Challenge Awards 2013 – record entry shows sources of economic growth

6 Aug

The UK’s Next Generation Digital Challenge is an annual awards programme that culminates in an award ceremony in October – this year at Wembley during the NextGen conference.

The entries this year are interesting for at least three reasons.  Firstly the Open Nomination phase resulted in more than three times previous entry levels.  Secondly analysis of the entries showed that there were now sufficient entries to justify support for three new categories – in Open Data, Digital Skills and Digital Innovation – in addition to the traditional categories for digital network developments.  Thirdly the entries show an increasing awareness of the value for local communities and the economy of long-term investment in digital infrastructure.

With this higher level of entries, up to six nominations in each category have now been selected  to go forward as Finalists for assessment by an independent judging panel and all of those short-listed will be invited to make brief presentations at NextGen13.

Full story including the short-listed Finalists here

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There’s no smoke but maybe some learning is burning?

21 Jul

learning is burning jpegThere’s muffled murmuring in the background but no loud music, no unexpected truck or post deliveries, no obvious waste or smell and, amazingly, no significant demand on the Bank of Mum & Dad, but surely there is something going on in there.

It’s clearly not a complete secret – judging by footsteps on the stairs and occasional giggles – but she’s not for telling us, leastways not yet.

Ma says she should get more air. ‘Not good to be cooped up in that room all day’.   I’d like more conversation during meals but often now she doesn’t show up and when she does join us we get evasion and ‘you wouldn’t understand’.  Does anyone really need earphones at breakfast?

It’s clearly important, this life-changing stuff but the only way we can help, it seems, is to give the space, not ask annoying questions and make sure we all have even more connectivity.

This trust, this faith we have, this uncertainty is being tested.  Even her ‘what would he know’ older brother, has no clue and has resorted to casting aspersions.  But he’s off to uni in few weeks so, blessed relief; at least we’ll not have to endure that sibling rivalry.

‘Really, you should have a word’.  ‘Why me?‘ Parental Ping-Pong, batting back and forth, is a game for reluctant players.  ‘About what?‘  ‘What if?‘

The small mysteries of the digital revolution can be happening anywhere.  How things can flip from lonely localised passion to global success, how those tiny tweaks can make a huge difference, can never be explained.

Her only guiding rule, it seems, is “Screw it – let’s do it”, or, more forcibly, “Just (F) Do It”, or as we old stagers marvelled back when Net was new, ‘ Innovation Without Permission’.   That ‘so last century’ constraint of seeking permission does not now trouble young digitally liberated minds.

So relax, rejoice in their empowerment.  The world has moved on since some of us threw away the brakes of copper-constrained wires.  There is no going back.  Sit back, enjoy the ride, and hope they make a better job of it than your own tentative last generation efforts.

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If you made any sense of this try ‘Spot the Link‘ at our main editorial website.

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The power of Open Data

10 Jun

In this brief summary of our NextGen presentation at last week’s ICF Summit in New York, Marit Hendriks and I gave a few examples of innovations engendered by Open Data from both the community perspective and that of Enterprise.

The summary ‘Innovating in Public: the power of Open Data‘  includes material from the Ordnance Survey’s Geovation Challenge, the Open Data Institute and Simon Rodgers iPad book ‘Facts are Sacred’.

 

 

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Innovation and job creation: Intelligent Community Forum annual Global Summit

6 Jun

(David Brunnen and Marit Hendriks reporting from New York)

The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) is holding its annual Summit this week in New York City. This 3-day event is an international gathering of mayors, chief administrative officers, CIOs and economic development officers from cities, states and regions around the world that are designated Intelligent Communities by the ICF. The theme this year is “Innovation and Jobs”.

In partnership with the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, the event brings the world’s most dynamic communities together to discuss how to use information and communications technology innovation to create jobs and sustainable communities.

The high point of the event will be on Friday when ICF announces the name of the world’s 2013 Intelligent Community of the Year.

Amongst the speakers gathered from around the world will be Mike Lazaridis, founder of Blackberry, Uzo Udemba, developer of Lagos as an intelligent city and Mayor Michael Coleman of Columbus Ohio.

From the UK, Marit and I will today be addressing a conference plenary on the impacts of Open Data innovation and giving several examples of community development as well as the trends towards greater transparency in the commercial sector and environmental sustainability.

Developing this theme has been excellent preparation for the upcoming Intelligent Cities event in Leeds on June 19th.

Working with the ICF has hugely informed NextGen Events – particularly in helping to identify the key UK challenges faced by cities and communities as the investment priorities for digital infrastructure begin to be realised.   A brief summary of the 2013 themes can be found in our paper ‘Economic Revitalisation’.

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Futurist Rohit Talwar takes centre stage at UK Intelligent Cities Conference

3 Jun

Rohit Talwar wbsizeGlobal futurist and CEO of Fast Future Research, Rohit Talwar, will explore the social, educational, economic and environmental potential of the intelligent city at the Intelligent Cities Conference in Leeds on 19 June. This will include a deep dive into how tomorrow’s city should be viewed as the enabler of the future, and the ‘soft elements’ of creating an intelligent city to take full advantage of upgrading its physical technological infrastructure.

Talwar will address how the development of intelligent cities is a critical move in creating a sustainable future. Which will engage and develop local economies, create community cohesion and build lifelong education platforms that equip children and adults alike for a lifespan that could last 90 years of more.

“An intelligent city is much more than just its technology,” states Talwar, who has been named as one of the top ten global future thinkers by The Independent. “It’s about the mindset shift that delivers the thinking, planning and rapid execution of ideas on how to build a sustainable society that makes maximum use of the facilities already around us. For example, repurposing unused stores on the high street as community resources and using public buildings, such as schools as multi-service facilities in the evenings to accommodate local libraries, community centres, doctors’ surgeries and even magistrates’ courts. Such moves would meet the twin goals of cutting the operating costs for local councils and taking local facilities and giving them more value to the community.”

Rohit will use real life case study examples about how the trends and forces that are driving and enabling this multi-faceted view of social, educational and community cohesion in a city that can be facilitated with the technology and infrastructure already available. Rotterdam’s investment in its planning for sustainability, Helsinki’s investment in energy and resources, and the IBM central city control centre in Rio de Janeiro which integrates the work of multiple agencies, are all examples of how cities around the world are taking a smart approach.

“Technology is a critical enabler of the smart city, but a truly sustainable and intelligent model requires us to go much broader and think about every aspect of what makes a city vibrant and viable. The Government is working hard to make the technology infrastructure a priority but it needs to see this as part of the vision not the whole solution to what we need for the future of our cities,” he added.

Rohit Talwar’s presentation will take place at 12.35pm at The Rose Bowl, Leeds Metropolitan University on 19 June. The Intelligent Cities conference will also include presentations from Cambium Networks, Ericsson, EE, IBM, Cisco Arup, aql, Leeds Data Thing, Medtech University of Leeds and Synchronoss Technologies. Paul Hadley who is the Deputy Director Information Economy Industrial Strategy at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will also speak.

The Intelligent Cities Conference is a business event and costs £50 plus VAT to attend. To register for the event please visit: http://www.regonline.co.uk/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventID=1209906.

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Go ON UK announces support for Digital Challenge Awards 2013

4 Apr

Go ON UK logo websizeThe Next Generation Digital Challenge awards 2013 programme is being supported by Go ON UK.

Go ON UK’s aim is to is to make the UK the most digitally capable nation in the world – and by sponsoring this awards programme they are turning the spotlight on the demand for new skills and expertise.

The Open Call for nominations closes on 30th April.

Full story here with details of how to nominate a contender.

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Next Generation Digital Challenge Awards 2013 – NOW OPEN

17 Feb

For our 2013 edition we have changed the design – starting with an Open Call for entries, suggestions and ideas.

The Challenge will this year honour and celebrate the enablers of your own digital economy.

We are also this year introducing a separate ‘smart city’ track for international exemplars.

The full details and how to throw in your suggestions can be found here.

Nominate Now and track how your contenders fare during the short-list selection, finalist places and the winners at the NextGen13 conference dinner on 14th October.

The Digital Challenge is a Groupe Intellex project in association with NG Events Ltd.

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broadband with coffee – and bacon butties

10 Feb

NG Events kicked off their 2013 programme with a debate for parliamentarians at a ‘broadband policy breakfast’ last week in Portcullis House, Westminster.

The event, chaired by Chi Onwurah MP, explored three topics in depth guided by speakers drawn from participants in the 2012 NextGen events programme.

To maximise discussion time the speakers were each given only 3 minutes to introduce their topic and a very healthy debate ensued.

A summary report of the proceedings is now available and further information can be requested via info@groupe-intellex.com

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