Our first ever Rethink Tech event provided an abundance of light bulb moments last week. The hustle and bustle of the busy urban Ham Yard Hotel created a real buzz for those who joined us. With a line-up of industry experts including, David Rowan, WIRED Magazine, Phil Jones, Managing Director, Brother and Charlie Blakemore, Transformation Director, BAE Systems Military Air and Information, the event certainly met the brief in helping businesses to rethink the way they use technology to change the way they work. But fear not – if you missed the event, read on for our Rethink Tech event roundup…
First up, Intercity Technology’s CEO Andrew Jackson took to the stage to welcome attendees to the event and talked more about how Intercity helps businesses to rethink the technology they use and how when done right it can change the way they work.
Charlie Blakemore - The art of business transformation
Next up Charlie Blakemore, Transformation Director at BAE Systems Military Air and Information talked to delegates about how BAE are continuously pushing boundaries to provide its servicemen and women with the best technology. For the third largest global defence supplier and world-leading innovator, revolutionising technology has enabled engineers to virtually walk through ships, meaning that they no longer have to use mock ups, which has delivered significant savings.
Charlie stressed that it’s more important than ever to work on improving business performance and that transformation is the key enabler to delivering business strategy. Charlie discussed the steps needed to create change within an organisation and his ultimate message was for businesses to ensure that they utilise the latest technology to improve products, processes and competitive advantage… Oh and forget driverless cars... Charlie discussed tech that has enabled BAE to fly a plane without a pilot…
Phil Jones - What's on your radar?
After a quick coffee break and a walk around the supplier Tech Space, which was full of big names including, Imerja, Brother, Wandera and BlackBerry, delegates made themselves comfortable for the next speaker of the day. Phil Jones, Managing Director of information, communication and technology business Brother UK. Phil is a high profile business leader, cited as a Top 100 figure in the Manufacturing Industry, one of the UKs Top 100 entrepreneurial thinkers and one of the Top 100 influencers in the North West and he certainly kept our audience captivated.
Phil’s presentation was thought provokingly entitled ‘What’s on your radar?’ Phil shared personal experiences with delegates, as well as his opinions around how he sees the workplace changing – using observations from high level surveys and as his own experience of leading a fast paced business.
Phil covered topics such as the key priorities of CEO’s, the need for backstage and on-stage management by CIO’s and the importance of relationship building with sales/marketing, and provided unique insight into the thought patterns of the leader of a large sales organisation. He sang the praises of the IT department who he heralded as ‘hidden hero’s’ and gave tips on how IT pros can promote themselves internally so that they make sure they're on everyone’s radar…
David Rowan - how disruptive tech will transform the IT Director's world
David Rowan graced the stage and quite literally blew our minds, showing us the true extent of the technological advances that are happening all over the world. The sentiment of his presentation was that businesses really do need to be one step ahead, as these changes are going to impact them quicker than they think! David’s presentation highlighted that businesses need to make sure that they aren’t insular in their approach to working, increasingly businesses are setting up in co-working spaces to enable them to keep innovation alive. Essentially, technological development will not move as slow as it does today in the future… We will no longer be asking the younger generation what they want to be, do or work on when they grow up, as in all probability, it’s not been invented yet… Scary thought.
Shaun Collins - Rethink Tech panel
Rethink Tech wrapped up with an insightful panel of delegates from Microsoft, Blackberry, Wandera and Imerja, chaired by Shaun Collins, Founder and CEO of CCS Insight. Each of the panel members talked about how businesses are rethinking technology and how they themselves are, not only at the forefront of these changes, but also undergoing renewal themselves in various ways. The panel discussed mobility and devices, organisational issues; such as how has the role of the CIO and IT overall changed with the growth of mobility and what role is mobility playing in digital strategy and transformation, as well as how the Internet of Things will shape enterprise mobility in the future and challenges customers face with mobility today.
If you like the sound of Rethink Tech, our next event is taking place in Birmingham at the Jaguar Visitor Centre on Tuesday 17th of May, click here to register for your light bulb moment…
