Join county's 'digital talents' online and help develop Northamptonshire as a creative technology hub

Merged Futures 2020 takes place on June 12

An online event showcasing Northamptonshire’s ‘digital talents’ aims to put the county firmly on the map as a creative technology hub.

Merged Futures on June 12 has an intriguing line-up of local speakers who will discuss the future of everything from social media and cyber security to gaming, virtual reality and online learning.

Hundreds of people have already signed up for the free Zoom event, sponsored by City Fibre, at www.mergedfutures.comRichard Beards, of Digital Northampton, which has organised the six-hour webcast, said: “We want to showcase the amazing work of local people and companies.

Dozens of speakers will take part in the six-hour webcast on June 12

“We’re seeing a real range of people signing up from different businesses and organisations, and we’re encouraging people from Northamptonshire to get involved and find out what’s happening locally.”

Merged Futures and Digital Northampton is all about raising awareness of the digital talent and work that is already going on in the area. The event is usually held at the University of Northampton but has gone online this year due to the coronavirus.

“We want to create a community of digital professionals so that everyone knows each other and starts connecting – because those connections lead to collaboration,” said Richard. “This will help generate a local supply chain and build the digital economy, so the end result is that companies do better. We will get more start-ups in the area.

“We also hope to retain talent from the university so that when IT and digital students graduate they don’t leave the county, as there will be lots of jobs for them locally and they can stay and help build the economy.”

One notable digital success story is the work of the university in bringing schools together across borders.

“With EU funding they have been working with different schools and academies across Europe to be able to connect classrooms together,” said Richard. “You could be teaching pupils and then invite a school in France to join in.

“A class might be talking about the war, or an event in history, and that French school could take part in the classroom session.

“They were doing this way before Covid, so it is ahead of its time. During Merged Futures they will be talking about the research they have done, the findings, and using that tech to collaborate. I think it is the future of teaching.”