´óÏó´«Ã½: A Digital Future In The North
Last week I gave a talk in Gateshead at the about how we work in a digital future, considering the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s imminent move to in Salford and the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s regional production policy.
I ran through the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s plans to move people, production and resource to Salford - five key departments: ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport, Children's, Radio 5 Live, Formal Learning and over 300 people from my department, Future Media & Technology. In line with the overall vision, FM&T's focus will be very much on partnerships with technology companies and public institutions to create the next wave of digital media innovations.
Overall, the move to Salford was broadly welcomed by the Gateshead audience, but one aspect provoked comment: I referred to the move to Salford as being about a major 'tilt to the North'. In the North East I was that Salford is- travelling time to Salford is no shorter than to London.
In response to the speech, some commented that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ still has a "London & The Rest" approach to the UK and one asked if there was "hope" for the North East. Yes, there is hope for the North East. Such a major commitment to the North by the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is just the start. A move of this scale is a fundamental shift in mindset for the ´óÏó´«Ã½ and should get us away from the "London & The Rest" approach.
But we need to improve our ways of working to ensure that shift. So I now pose two questions:
What kind of technology solutions can we use to make sure production teams and our partners across the North are in close dialogue with the ´óÏó´«Ã½ at Salford, whether they're in Yorkshire, Cumbria, Tyneside or wherever? at our Manchester site and they're keen to work with partners to make this possible. I do hope that technology can help us move away from a "jump on the train" mentality.
And, how can the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s commissioning system ensure that the move to Salford results in the best ideas for all platforms as well as more equitable spend across the North? This is something that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is actively thinking about at the moment.
I'd welcome your thoughts.
Kerstin Mogull is Chief Operating Officer, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Future Media & Technology
Comment number 1.
At 26th May 2009, oopstudios wrote:I saw your talk at Thinking Digital and rather like that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ are branching out their central hubs - even if the locations aren't too "northern" it's still a step in the right direction.
As for the North East - I have only one idea, I'd love to see "´óÏó´«Ã½ Science" somewhere in the new City of Science in Newcastle. Nothing too big or fancy, just the ´óÏó´«Ã½, reporting and connecting Newcastle science to the world.
David King out.
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Comment number 2.
At 26th May 2009, northdavblog wrote:Dear Kerstin,
I was one of the people who was at the presntation and tweeted. First thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us.
You say in your post that you were "forcibly reminded" about the distance from Gateshead to Salford - Sorry if it felt at all forcefull - limit of 160 chars I suppose. Also I Think you perhaps inadvertantly dug up a local vein of frustration over our transport system and some East - West rivalries.
We could see from the graphics in the video and hear from your words that you want to work with us and we all think thats great.
We have some really great digital companies here in the NE - and actualy as you say - it's no worse tiem wise to get to Salford than London and we already work with plenty of London companies. Looking at technical solutions is of course a great idea - and could work very successfully.
My Suggestion for Technology perhaps a minimal presence in one of the North East iconic high tec buildings - with a high definition 3D video conferencing system linking to Salford and a number of hot desks - enabling not just less travel and easier working with contractors - but also open up the opportunity to hire some directly employed talent to home work and split their time across the North.
I am sure you will find that the whole of the north will soon about the war of the roses and amaze you with what we can all achieve together.
After all to someone from the point of view of Sweeden - we are all southerners.
I think the ´óÏó´«Ã½ commitment to source from the North is one of the most exciting Developments in Digital in a long time.
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Comment number 3.
At 1st Jun 2009, digitalyorkshire wrote:In response to northdavblog, a project called Northern Net should be just the answer! It's a project we (Yorkshire Forward, One North East and NWDA) are working on that will result in at least 15 locations across the North being linked up through a high speed fibre network. Many of these locations will have video conferencing as well as other equipment of use to Digital companies. The idea is that this will allow companies across the North to work and collaborate with other companies including any located in MediaCity. As soon as we have some details regarding the specific locations etc i'll post an update.
Kerstin, I believe your R&D guys will be very interested in the technology that Northern Net offers and hopefully it will result in a very innovative way for you to work with companies across the North of England.
I also think that working closely with the Screen Agencies across the North will be key to your success, i'll leave it to them to post their thoughts.
Kind regards,
Emma Frost
Yorkshire Forward
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Comment number 4.
At 3rd Jun 2009, Herb Kim wrote:Hi Kerstin,
On behalf of the Thinking Digital Conference and North East England, thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to visit us at the Sage Gateshead. I really enjoyed your presentation and if you could thank Caroline Inman for helping to arrange your trip that would be greatly appreciated. Caroline along with Ian Forrester & Adrian Woolard put alot of effort into ensuring Future Media & Technology was well represented at Thinking Digital.
In many ways your visit is the result of long-term relationship that has grown organically between the ´óÏó´«Ã½ & Codeworks (the host company of Thinking Digital) since 2006.
The relationship actually got kicked off in Monterey, California at the 2006 TED Conference (which also happens to be the original inspiration for Thinking Digital) where I happened to meet Lucy Hooberman. Lucy connected me with Matt Locke and Matt convinced me to help him develop a NE & Yorkshire ´óÏó´«Ã½ Innovation Labs event which Codeworks helped to sponsor in both 2007 & 2008.
Via the Innovation Labs I got connected with Ian Forrester who was a huge help in helping me launch the inaugural Thinking Digital in May 2008. He then connected me with Adrian Woolard and together along with Caroline we worked to see how we could benefit each other mutually for Thinking Digital 2009 which of course eventually resulted in your presentation & the ´óÏó´«Ã½ lunch.
I give all this detail because it illustrates the key success factor in helping to catalyse a ´óÏó´«Ã½ Salford into a ´óÏó´«Ã½ North.
As the late Dicky Fox once said, "The key to this job is personal relationships."
Without building an "infrastructure" of trusted relationships between ´óÏó´«Ã½ commissioners/staff and people/companies throughout the North of England, technology, money and commissioning targets will not build a sustainable and mutually beneficial business fabric between Salford, Yorkshire and the North East.
Technology infrastructures can be time-consuming to build but an infrastructure of genuine business relationships between individuals can take even more time.
My first & foremost suggestion to you would be for FM&T and other parts of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ to invest in facilitating and building relationships. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ should have (more) people on the ground in the North connecting with people, companies & organisations. Ian & Adrian are doing a wonderful job but surely the Corporation should be looking to build on their good work?
And please don't think of this as a sort of goodwill gesture to the North East & Yorkshire. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ should be using these ambassadors as talent scouts understanding who are the individuals & companies that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ should be collaborating with in order to achieve its own ambitious goals. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ is engaged in an increasingly global media landscape and it needs to be scouring all of the UK for talent in technology, content, leadership & management.
And at present in the North we are enjoying an abundance of high quality events, conferences and festivals that provide the ´óÏó´«Ã½ ample opportunity to start making these Northern connections now in advance of the move. In addition to Thinking Digital, we are running the GameHorizon Conference in June back in the Sage Gateshead. B.Tween will be running next week at FACT Liverpool. The Leeds Web Festival is just finishing up and of course there is Futuresonic in Manchester which is relaunching as FutureEverything in 2010.
When people want to work together the commissioning should naturally follow-on. With commissions and a genuine desire to work together, the technology will be there or get built whether it be via NorthernNet or other private sector platforms.
We look forward to seeing you again soon.
Herb
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Comment number 5.
At 23rd Aug 2009, bretdriver247 wrote:"Last week I gave a talk in Gateshead at the Thinking Digital conference about how we work in a digital future, considering the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s imminent move to MediaCity:UK in Salford and the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s regional production policy."
Sounds like you're going through some big changes...
Hope that all works out okay for you.
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Comment number 6.
At 6th Nov 2009, Karl wrote:Investment on a northern network infrastructure, and collaboration with some of the most important UK's digital technology companies (which are mainly located in London) offering to shift their services northwards, are two necessary conditions for a real decentralization of the ´óÏó´«Ã½. So the dreamt-of move out of London shall not take place unless...
Regards,
Karl van karlos
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Comment number 7.
At 25th Nov 2009, mikulasring wrote:Yes, there is hope for the North East. Such a major commitment to the North by the ´óÏó´«Ã½ is just the start. A move of this scale is a fundamental shift in mindset for the ´óÏó´«Ã½ and should get us away from the "London & The Rest" approach..
I wonder what will this all bring to the current situation.
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Comment number 8.
At 7th Jan 2010, JohnLur wrote:[Unsuitable/Broken URL removed by Moderator]
A project called Northern Net should be just the answer! It's a project we (Yorkshire Forward, One North East and NWDA) are working on that will result in at least 15 locations across the North being linked up through a high speed fibre network. Many of these locations will have video conferencing as well as other equipment of use to Digital companies. The idea is that this will allow companies across the North to work and collaborate with other companies including any located in MediaCity. As soon as we have some details regarding the specific locations etc i'll post an update.
When people want to work together the commissioning should naturally follow-on. With commissions and a genuine desire to work together, the technology will be there or get built whether it be via NorthernNet or other private sector platforms.
John,
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Comment number 9.
At 10th Jan 2010, sussane sh wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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