Region’s tech conference expands virtually

The Dynamo Conference, which attracts more than 350 delegates annually, will be delivered as a digital event on the original date of June 25 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The virtual conference will be free to Dynamo members and all of their teams.

Andrew Besford, a Dynamo vice-chair (pictured), said: “We felt it vital for the benefit of the regional tech sector that the conference went ahead – and so did our partners, Sage and the Institute of Coding.

“Sharing information, best practice and common problems – COVID-19 related or not – has never been more important.

“As we’re making the event free to our members, we’re expecting more delegates than ever to attend our main sessions, workshops and panels. We’ll also be hosting virtual networking opportunities as we know a huge attraction of our Dynamo conferences has been the chance to network with others in the sector.

“Our conference will enable members to reconnect with their regional peers, share learnings, and support each other during this international crisis.

“We’ll have our traditional roundtable sessions where delegates can come together to focus on a specific area or theme and as you’d expect some of these will be COVID-19 related. For instance, we’ll have a panel of experts – including delegates from the health system – to focus on issues around COVID-19 and how the region has responded.

“Another panel will concentrate on crisis management and resilience, during which members can share their experiences and stories.”

“The over-arching theme of the event will still be how the sector can collaborate in order to create new opportunities and shared understanding. This theme is more relevant now than ever before.

“Delegates can still expect inspirational and informative keynote speakers; breakout sessions themed around our cluster work, and a showcase to highlight the work of our smaller members.”

Keynote speakers will include researcher, teacher, writer and TEDx speaker Professor Nic Palmarini, the director of the National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA), based at Newcastle University.

Breakout sessions, which are themed around Dynamo’s cluster work, will include automation and service, delivery centres, cyber security, data, digital construction, digital entertainment and gaming, fintech, gov-tech, health tech, skills and workplace culture and VR.

More speakers (including international contributors), workshops and sessions will be announced closer to the conference.