“There is a digital revolution brewing in the world of the arts and cultural organisations”, she said.

“We have known for years that there was tremendous potential if we could find ways to help artists and arts organisations work more closely with people in the digital world – from creating new forms of art to helping arts organisations better use digital tools in everything they do.”

The CultureCode initiative is a set of four events, all looking to spark and facilitate innovative collaboration between the culture sector and the digital professionals.

“CultureCode aims to take the artist or cultural professional on a journey of learning, collaborating and participating”, Joeli said.

“We want Cultural organisations to have a better understanding of what a developer/designer or creative technologist does, how they realise a project, and how collaborating with them could be key to their own innovation.”

Journey to innovation

The cultural-digital bonanza kicks off on 21 February with the CultureCode Encounter - an event looking to encourage more open data in arts projects through examples and discussing some of the challenges involved.

The day after the Encounter, the CultureCode Boutique will give artists and cultural professionals the chance to hear from specialists who have embraced the arts and digital to create daring, inspirational projects.

The next event, the CultureCode Salon, will take things to the next level. The networking event will enable the two communities to meet and discuss ideas, challenges and potential future collaboration.

The whole thing is then brought together in the climax of the journey – the CultureCode Hack – 24h of rapid prototyping culminating in an award ceremony.

“There will also be maker activity, coding for beginners, various films will be shown and food and drink will be available throughout the 24 hour period”, Joeli said.

World class speaker

To spark true inspiration, both The CultureCode Encounter and The CultureCode Boutique will host data artist Jer Thorp as the main speaker.

“Jer is the data artist in residence at the New York Times, a contributing editor of Wired magazine, an educator, scientist, artist and all round truly awesome speaker who will adapt his presentation to inspire and educate the different audiences”, Joeli said.

“Jer will focus on his exceptional data visualisation work and will also talk through examples of other developers and designers who are already doing innovative work within the cultural and arts sector.”

Starting point for conversations

The CultureCode initiative was set in motion by the Arts Council.

The aim was to encourage artists and cultural organisations to utilise digital technologies to make great art and to engage as many people as possible with their work.

“The reality is that very few cultural organisations and artists have an opportunity to mix with creative technologists to start the conversations that might lead to more innovative work”, Joeli said.

“We would love to see CultureCode act as a key catalyst alongside other forward-thinking organisations around the UK in getting this revolution over the tipping point.”

To find out more and to register, visit the CultureCode website.

The North East digital community has been booming in 2011.

The lively community has been coming together more than ever and new start-ups are cropping up to such an extent that the region has been given the title of one of the most significant UK digital hubs outside of London.

As we head towards 2012, we asked the folks at the regional digital initiative Codeworks to look back at the successes of the past year.

Maturity for start-ups

“We have seen a lot of new small companies emerge in 2011 as well as other larger companies excel massively”, Emilia Flockhart, communications executive at Codeworks, said.

“TH_NK seem to be growing by the minute and in 2011 we have also seen a lot of smaller companies who spun out of the Difference Engine really grow.”

“ScreenReach have gone from a startup to a large company in no time at all, and ReciteMe have also had great success this year.”

Emilia also mentions Pottermore (http://www.pottermore.com/) – a unique cross-media experience for Harry Potter fans – as one of the successes of the year.

“It’s been great to have so many North East companies involved in the project – it has been great for the region.”

Emilia Flockhart describes the North East digital sector incredibly innovative. Photo courtesy of Codeworks.

Emilia said Codeworks has also been very impressed with both MediaWorks and Eutechnyx receiving a Regional Growth Fund.

“That’s great for them as digital companies and really showcases the unbelievable talent that exists in the region”, she said.

“I was also very impressed by Palringo who are a global company facilitating worldwide communications from an office in Cramlington.”

And in terms of new companies, there seems to be no signs of slowing down.

“Having another accelerator program in the form of Ignite100 has brought lots of new interesting startups to the region and we hope to see some of these in the same place as the likes of ScreenReach this time next year.”

Innovation to be proud of

The constant digital successes in the North East have earned the region a reputation as being ‘innovative’ according to the Barclays Business Report.

“The North East digital sector is incredibly innovative and that is apparent when we talk to our members and we get to see their amazing work”, Emilia said.

“This is really something we should be celebrating more, and I am constantly impressed and surprised by what I see when I visit members.”

As an organisation, Codeworks has been through a lot of change in the recent years but all the bits are finally starting to fall into the right places.

“We have already developed a lot as a group and have an absolutely brilliant core team who will be bringing lots of new things to the Codeworks table”, Emilia said.

A look at 2012

The next year looks to be another exciting one for Codeworks.

In addition to their successful trio of Conferences – Thinking Digital, DIBI and GameHorizon, they have recently won two contracts which they are looking forward to start work on in the new year.

In Culture Hack North East, Codeworks teams up with NGCV and Caper to bring together technology, creative and cultural sectors to produce innovative new products.

Imagine Cup North East is a competition for young developers run by Microsoft.

“I am really looking forward to working on the Imagine Cup”, Emilia said.

“We have some really exciting events planned in conjunction with it and will be great working with students a year after graduating myself.”

“Culture Hack is also going to be immense. I got excited by the project just from being told the title.”

According to new research by digital marketing specialist Econsultancy, a lack of digitally skilled staff is one of the key barriers to growth in the digital industry.

The exponential growth in data, brought on by the widespread adaptation of social and mobile, means data analysis will become a key basis of competition for companies.

While the difficulties in finding skilled people for companies to take advantage of the data has been recognised for a while, the new research shows that data is only one of the numerous areas in need of skilled workforce.

Web analytics, social media and content marketing were also identified as some of the biggest problem areas while people with skills in web design and building were also urgently needed.

Neil Perkin, founder of digital and media consultancy Only Dead Fish, wrote on Econsultancy.com that the problem goes back to the schools.

“Over the last five years, there’s been a 57% fall in the number of pupils taking ICT (Information and Communications) GCSE, and the number of students sitting computing A-level has fallen for eight successive years.”

Read the full article here:
http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/8477-the-ticking-digital-talent-time-bomb

Martin believes his city is capable of producing top internet companies if the digital community had “the balls” to get going.

“I really think we could be doing a lot more in Manchester and the Northwest to promote and help develop the technology scene here”, Bryant told local news website How-Do.

“There’s a lot of digital talent but not enough entrepreneurialism based around original IP – most of the people I speak to in Manchester with Internet tech-related skills are doing client work.”

“That’s all well and good, but with such a pedigree in science, technology and the arts, Manchester should have the balls to produce the giant consumer Internet companies of tomorrow.”

Some of the world’s most influential women in digital design and technology will come together in a unique conference to encourage other women into digital careers.

’The Emerge Mini-Conference’ is a three day series of talks and workshops is organised by newly formed not-for-profit Web Heroines.

The conference hopes to address the gender imbalance in the industry by engaging more women with design and technology.

The Emerge Mini-Conference will also showcase the fantastic work by women from within the industry and aims to share ideas, opinions and solutions.

Hosted in partnership with The British Library Business and IP Centre and supported by the Big Lottery Fund, The Emerge Mini-Conference will take place over 16th, 17th and 18th January 2012.

There will be ten virtual sessions followed by a networking session and a finale pivotal panel debate on the evening of the 18th January which takes place at the British Library in London.

For more information about the Emerge Mini Conference, details on all of the sessions and to book your place, visit the event website.

Join the conversation on Twitter by following @webheroines and use the hashtag #WHemerge

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"Our door is always open for candidates and clients to drop by for a coffee and a catch up", Laura Sharpe says.

The job market might seem all doom and gloom in the main, but not for the digital sector in the North East.

The region’s tech scene is thriving, says digital recruitment specialist Laura Sharpe.

“There are so many opportunities for talented and passionate web developers, digital marketers and innovative thinkers who really want to work in the digital, creative or IT sector”, she said.

NMN had a chat with Laura at Sharpe Recruitment’s new offices next to Leazes Park. After a brief stint in Yorkshire, she has now settled back in the North East.

“I really like the way people do business in the North East”, she said.

“There is a culture for honesty and openness, which I haven’t come across anywhere else and it’s a culture I wholeheartedly embrace.”

“Many of those that know me know I wear my heart on my sleeve both personally and professionally and can’t do business any other way!”

People over sales targets

Sharpe Recruitment was set up at one of the gloomiest times of the recession.

To make a business successful at those times required extra patience and care.

“I think we’ve survived the past 2-and-a-half years by making sure we keep our overheads as low as possible and passing our cost savings on to our clients by offering affordable fees and flexible payment terms when required”, Laura said.

“We haven’t grown too quickly, instead we have made sure we have built solid foundations on which to grow the business when the time is right.”

Laura has always prided herself on her caring approach to recruitment.

“We take the time to get to know our candidates and clients properly – it’s not all about sales targets and profits at Sharpe Recruitment”, she said.

“We genuinely care and want to help clients find the right staff and candidates to progress their careers.”

Sharpe Recruitment team in its full strength - from left to right, Stacey Moore, Gail Affleck, Laura Sharpe and Julie Sharpe. Ward

Strengthening the team

The fresh approach has proved a successful one.

In 2011, Sharpe Recruitment has doubled its turnover and brought in two new members of staff, Gail Affleck Ward and Stacey Moore.

Laura describes her new colleagues a joy to work with and says she’s lucky to have both of them in the team.

“Gail brings a wealth of marketing knowledge having worked in a senior marketing role for one of the North East’s largest Solicitor’s for many years and more recently managing the membership and marketing for Service Network”, she said.

“Stacey’s background in creative art working and passion for the digital and creative sector also means she fits right in to our chosen specialist areas of recruitment and is able to talk knowledgeably to both candidates and clients alike.”

Qatar and US in sight

With two new recruits on board, Laura says she can focus more on the business development side of things.

The next big step will be exploring global opportunities with potential collaboration with companies in Qatar and the US in sight.

“We are excited to be working with the UKTI looking at the potential of helping recruiters further afield in Qatar and America to source the right staff for their Digital, Creative and IT vacancies”, Laura revealed.

Sharpe Recruitment also still has a ‘satellite office’ in Yorkshire and Laura would like to see Sharpe Recruitment filling roles across Yorkshire and the North West in the years to come.

“Especially with the BBC’s move to the North, I strongly believe there are lots of great opportunities for talented people within the digital and creative sector to benefit from”, she said.

The ‘History to Herstory’ site tells the stories of the lives of notable women, such as author Charlotte Bronte and aviator Amy Johnson, through more than 80,000 digitised documents.

The site, which is developed in partnership with the University of Huddersfield and  West Yorkshire Archives Service, is set to benefit anyone from academic researchers to family historians.

Katy Goodrum, Head of Archives at West Yorkshire Archive Services, called the new website a ‘fantastic resource’.

“And the main thing for me is that a huge amount of the material is in women’s own words, which is quite rare”, she said.

Alastair Dunning, programme manager at JISC, a government organisation that funded the project, said:

“Exploiting Britain’s cultural treasures in the digital age is not just about digitisation but using the Internet to tell stories about them.

“History to Herstory does this in an innovative way, presenting women’s history in Yorkshire in a new light.”

The site also includes packages of learning materials around themes such as women and politics, women at work, women at war and women’s correspondence, which can be used for educational purposes.

Some of the material will be used for undergraduate modules at the University of Huddersfield itself.

The list, published in the Telegraph, features mid-sized companies which have managed to thrive despite the tough economic times.

TH_NK is one of the UK’s leading digital agencies with an impressive client list, including Sony, JK Rowling and Warner Brothers.

This is not the first time the agency’s success has been recognised this year.

They came top in an independent Digital Agency Reputation Survey which rates UK digital agencies on a range of areas such as creativity and value for money.

North Shields based creative agency Armadillo has released a new animated video about the rapidly changing digital world.

‘The Evolution of Now’ is a follow-up to their previous video ‘An Ever Changing World’, which was viewed over 57,000 times on YouTube.

The video tells a story about the development of technology and online marketing and its effects on social perception of the ‘digital age’, Armadillo wrote on their company blog.

It looks at the technological and social changes that have happened in recent years and the way they affect the way we interact with each other.

Kevin Robson, Client services manager at Armadillo, said the first video was a result of some free studio time at the agency and the YouTube success came without any promotion.

“Because of the nature of the video, the content had quickly become outdated, in terms of figures, stats and so on, so the new video is bang up to date….until next week!”

The event received hundreds of great creative campaigns which have now been cut down to include only the most impressive ones.

You can find a full list of the winners on the event website.

The judging panel will look at memorable creative communications and appraise how brilliant ideas can achieve brand buzz and brand vitality.

The winners will be announced at an award ceremony on Thursday 8 September at Lancaster Hotel in London.

Creativity over results

The Blades is the only creative awards scheme that is judged solely by clients and that reviews creative execution not the effectiveness of creative work and campaigns.

The award scheme has four streams – Advertising, Design, Digital and Media – each with their own categories. The winners of the Advertising & Media streams will be announced together, and the winners of the Design & Digital streams will be announced together.

Now in its second year, The Blades was created by Centaur’s online marketplace for agencies, Pitch, for strategic agencies to showcase their talent.

The event is supported by Creative Review, designweek.co.uk, nma.co.uk and Marketing Week.