</Conference Agenda 2020>
The title of the IoC’s conference 2020 is ‘Thinking Differently’ and the theme is lifelong learning. The question we will ask at the conference is how a new focus on lifelong learning would change the United Kingdom.
Specifically, conference sessions will look at:
| Diversity of participation (diversity and inclusion) | |||
| Diversity of delivery (place-based learning and personalisation) | |||
| Diversity of destination (different outcomes for a wider variety of learners) | |||
Please download the app to personalise your own agenda.
Download the AppIoC Conference 2020 |
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| Monday 24th February 2020 | |||
| 10.00 – 11.00 | Registration & refreshments | Location: Haslett & Flowers Rooms |
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| 11.00 – 11.30 | Welcome and introduction Speakers: Dr. Rachid Hourizi, Director of the Institute of Coding, Jacqueline de Rojas CBE, President, techUK |
Location: Kelvin Lecture Theatre |
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| 11.30 – 12.30 | Keynote speech by Dr. Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE Dr. Anne-Marie Imafidon is a prodigy in every sense of the word. Aged 11, she was the youngest girl ever to pass A-level computing, and was just 20 years old when she received her Master’s Degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Oxford. Since then, she has forged an enviable CV, including positions at Goldman Sachs, Hewlett-Packard and Deutsche Bank. Then there are the Honorary Doctorates from the Open University, Glasgow Caledonian University, Kent University, Bristol University and an Honorary Fellowship at Keble College, Oxford. She is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Sunderland. It is this wealth of experience and pioneering spirit that led her to co-found the Stemettes, an award-winning social initiative dedicated to inspiring and promoting the next generation of young women in the STEM sectors. Since its inception 6 years ago, it has exposed more than 40,000 young people across Europe to Anne-Marie’s vision for a more diverse and balanced science and tech community. Dr. Imafidon will talk about the continued need for diversity in tech in her keynote address. |
Location: Kelvin Lecture Theatre |
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| 12.30 – 13.30 | Lunch | Location: Haslett & Flowers Rooms |
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| Conference session one Parallel sessions start |
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| Option A 13.30 – 15.00 |
Exploring how to encourage people to upskill and take digital skills courses i. Future.Now Speaker: Liz Williams MBE, CEO, future.now The session will explore how many people may not see the benefit of acquiring new skills. Upskilling the nation’s workforce and encouraging people to think differently about their own development is therefore crucial for the UK to thrive in the digital world and ensure increased productivity and growth. But how can we motivate people to take up learning opportunities? Drawing on experiences from other major behaviour change campaigns, it will explore what lessons can be drawn as we seek to encourage people to thrive in a digital world. ii. Transitions in the age of automation Speaker: Will Fairbairn, McKinsey The world of work is changing. Artificial intelligence, automation, and robotics will make this shift as significant as the mechanization in prior generations of agriculture and manufacturing. This century brings new avenues for economic advancement, but women face new challenges overlaid on long-established ones. To weather this disruption, women (and men) need to be skilled, mobile, and tech-savvy, but women face pervasive barriers on each, and will need targeted support to move forward in the world of work. William Fairbairn joins us to discuss, ‘The future of women at work: Transitions in the age of automation’, a recent McKinsey Global Institute report examining the outlook for work in the UK and how this will impact gender diversity. He is a leader in McKinsey’s ‘Future of Work’ thought leadership, serving clients on the topic and contributing to its research agenda. While some jobs will be lost, and many others created, almost all will change. A panel discussion follows, considering ‘How to support job transitions in the age automation’; bringing insights from across the private, public and charity sectors. |
Location: Kelvin Lecture Theatre Theme: Diversity of destination |
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| Option B 13.30 – 15.00 |
Keeping it real: authentic approaches to student learning Speakers: Dr Kathryn Jones, Dr Fernando Loizides, Dr Wendy Ivins, Helen Phillips & Dr James Osborne, Cardiff University, Andrew Stratton, University of Sheffield This session will explore different models to provide student’s with authentic experiences through collaboration with clients on real world projects. Industry partners have included ‘traditional’ companies, public sector, incubators, startups, charities, and more. Focusing initially on Student Enterprises we present the University of Sheffield’s Genesys Software company, which incorporates a real-world project into the academic curriculum; Cardiff University’s National Software Academy, which fully embeds project-based learning into all years of the academic programme and has been investigating crowdsourcing end-user feedback. At the end of the session, a panel of university staff, students and professionals will invite questions from the audience around authentic learning, with topics expected to include (but not be limited to) employability, real clients, project based learning, agile and lean startup, work readiness, real world user feedback and authentic learning. The session will include the experience of students and graduates, describing how they engaged with industry while at university, and reflecting on their learning and their subsequent experience, e.g. as professionals. |
Location: Lovelace Room Theme: Diversity of delivery |
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| Option C 13.30 – 15.00 |
Using assistive technology to support learning outcomes Chair: Neil Milliken, Chair of IOC D&I Board / Global Head Of Accessibility (Atos) Panellist: Molly Watt, Accessibility Consultant @Molly Watt, Robin Spinks Senior Strategy Manager, RNIB, Professor Amanda Kirby, Do-IT Solutions, Piers Wilkinson, Disability Officer, NUS |
Location: Watson-Watt Room Theme: Diversity of participation |
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| Option D 13.30 – 15.00 |
International perspectives on diversity and inclusion in the IT sector Chair: Professor Clem Herman, Open University Speakers: Dr. Gunjan Sondhi, Open University & Ashok Pamidi, CEO, NASSCOM Foundation, Shilpa Shah, Deloitte An ‘in conversation’ session that builds on the findings of a recent Open University research project ‘Gender Skilled Migration and IT’ which compared the experiences of IT professionals in the UK and India. In India, up to 50% of new recruits to the digital industry are women, the result of sustained and successful campaigns by companies and universities. The session will outline the project’s findings including key lessons and examples of good practice in recruitment of women. It will explore the impact of the research and also describe the most recent initiative (WWRT) which is upskilling thousands of women already in the industry to accelerate their careers, as well as wider diversity initiatives. This will be followed by a Q&A. |
Location: Blumlein Room Theme: Diversity of participation |
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| 15.00 – 15.30 |
Refreshments & networking We invite you to join an international AI delegation for networking in the Marconi room. | Location: Haslett, Marconi & Flowers Rooms |
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| Conference session two Parallel sessions continue |
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| Option A 15.30 – 17.00 |
Mind the (skills) gap Chair: Jacqueline de Rojas CBE, President, techUK Panellists: Julie Elliot MP, Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Digital Skills, Manish Malhotra, Infosys, Liz Williams MBE CEO, Future.Now To make sure that the UK is a world-leading digital economy that works for everyone, it is crucial that people have the digital skills they need for life and work, including for a career in the technology sector. This panel will be a policy-focused discussion with speakers from Government and tech leaders exploring how to make lifelong learning a reality. techUK will also be highlighting their proposal for a skills platform that would provide a new digital learning pathway for millions of people across the country and could be implemented in the early years of a new government. From this session, you will be able to take away practical, scalable, and sustainable insights in how to drive digital skills. |
Location: Kelvin Lecture Theatre Theme: Diversity of destination |
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| Option B 15.30 – 17.00 |
Person centred solutions for digital education in diverse settings i. Finding hidden talent Speakers: Josh Rolland, Metrobank, Shauna Devlin & Tom Cella, Code4000, Kirsty Devlin, Recode The need for Software Developers doubles every 5 years. Code4000 are teaching inmates one of the most sought after skills in the UK job market. We are preparing some of the most marginalised groups of society, with the most up-to-date digital skills, in order to fill the gap in the UK talent pool. There has been a distinct correlation between individuals taking part in the Code4000 course and a significant reduction in re-offending. This displays digital beyond the IT sector, which has such a diverse impact on the protection of the community and break in the cycle of crime. ii. Diversity and inclusion for 2020 – examples of digital solutions in practice Speaker: Professor Amanda Kirby, Do-IT Solutions This session will describe the work of the team from Do-IT Solutions. Professor Amanda Kirby will describe the development and delivery of accessible screening and assessment tools delivering digital solutions allowing a person-centered approach. This includes a range of settings including schools, universities, apprenticeships, prisons and employment in the UK and internationally. |
Location: Lovelace Room Theme: Diversity of delivery |
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| Option C 15.30 – 17.00 |
AWS re/Start and AWS Academy: closing the digital skills gap Speakers: Jenni Jones, Amazon Web Services and Michael Houlihan COO, Generation Panellists: Adam Burnett, AWS re/Start Alumn, Elizabeth Okonkwo, AWS re/Start Alumn, Hadeel Saleh Alrubayyi, AWS Academy student, Queen Mary University of London, Gokop Longinus Goteng, AWS Academy accredited educator, Queen Mary University of London A 2019 survey from 451 Research found that 90% of IT decision makers reported skills shortages in cloud-related disciplines. Conversations with AWS customers and partners confirm that new employees with cloud computing skills are in high demand. That’s why AWS is working with higher education institutions, non-profits, and government organisations to prepare diverse learners to launch careers in the cloud. In this session, you’ll hear about two AWS Education Programs, AWS Academy and AWS re/Start, that are working to close the digital skills gap and prepare individuals around the world to fill in-demand cloud roles. This will be followed by a panel discussion with AWS re/Start alumni and a panel discussion with an AWS Academy educator and student. |
Location: Watson-Watt Room Theme: Diversity of destination |
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| Option D 15.30 – 17.00 |
Delivering diversity with team TechUP! Speakers: Professor Sue Black OBE, Durham University, Professor Alexandra Cristea, Durham University, Johanna Waite, IoC, EmJay Nicholas, IoC Panelists: Muma Sinkala, Shakirah Mustapha-Tahir, Sarah Kelly-Olaturiji, Judith Nathanail This session will be a conversation with TechUP followed by a panel of learners. The focus of the sessions will be: – How we developed the programme with industry partners to ensure it is real world compatible rather than academic. – How we targeted under-represented groups including Women of Colour, Disabled Women and LGBTQ+ Women. – How we adapted our delivery methods to suit a wide range of personal circumstances and learning needs. – How we created a close and supportive learning community through our online platform, social media and residential weekends. |
Location: Blumlein Room Theme: Diversity of participation |
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| 18.00 | Evening reception – Boyd’s Grill & Wine Bar, 8 Northumberland Avenue, WC2N 5BY | ||
| Tuesday 25th February 2020 | |||
| 09.00 – 09.45 | Registration & refreshments | Location: Haslett & Flowers Rooms |
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| Conference session three Parallel sessions continue |
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| Option A 09.45 – 11.15 |
Diverse thinking for diverse impact Chair: Professor Kerensa Jennings Panellists: Helen Milner OBE, Good Things Foundation, Mark Wakefield, IBM, Liza Belozerova, Google.org This panel session will explore the theme of the double disadvantaged; what challenges there are and what can be done to inspire, support and empower people of all backgrounds to build digital skills for tomorrow. The session will cover: – What the issues are for those who are double disadvantaged, explaining what the research tells us – What resources are available to build digital skills – How to tackle the big challenge of driving motivation within people to take up the free resources in order to build their skills for tomorrow |
Location: Kelvin Lecture Theatre Theme: Diversity of destination |
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| Option B 09.45 – 11.15 |
Providing skills to young people in two opposite settings – does location matter? i.Teaching tech in the rainforest Speaker: Dr. Kathryn Jones, National Software Academy, Cardiff University Perhaps surprisingly, it is noisy in the rainforest, with a diversity of inhabitants from humans to amphibians, and it gets noisier when you talk about tech, because kids love tech! No matter where you are in the world, children are children and have a natural curiosity. When that curiosity is nurtured, when they are encouraged, when you tell them that their opinion can mean something, that their actions can change something, then you engage their minds and their creativity. Too often tech is not defined as creative – but it can be, and it should be. Change starts somewhere and with great respect and understanding for tradition, culture and communities, we were able to show the children that it is possible to become a scientist, a software engineer, a coder whilst also having a family and caring about the communities in which we live. ii. Driving diversity in digital talent in London Speakers: Chris Wright, Senior Manager (Skills and Employment), Greater London Authority, PeiChin Tay, Programme Manager of Mayor’s Digital Talent Programme, Greater London Authority, Gillian Jackson, Head of Engagement, LivityDeborah Okenla, Founder and CEO, YSYS The Mayor’s Digital Talent Programme is a £7m scheme to make sure young Londoners have the digital skills employers want. The programme supports young Londoners aged 16 to 24, particularly young women and those from diverse ethnic and disadvantaged backgrounds to join London’s booming digital, tech and creative industries. The programme has funded nine innovative training and employment models, and in this panel session, you will hear from ourselves and our training providers on: – Defining skills needs for now and the future – Designing training with employers – Delivering flexible training to meet diverse audience needs – Future ideas |
Location: Lovelace Room Theme: Diversity of delivery |
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| Option C 09.45 – 11.15 |
Sharing insights to motivate and create a more diverse digital workforce An interactive session based on new research from the IoC and Deloitte Speakers: Dave Tansley, Deloitte, Shilpa Shah, Deloitte Facilitator: Dr. Gabby Davies, IoC The Institute of Coding has teamed up with Deloitte to explore what motivates different groups of people (16-18 year olds, university learners and employed people) to study and work in digital. This new research will be presented at the conference for the first time in an interactive workshop, and participants will receive a findings report that can be used to support lifelong learning initiatives and strategies. |
Location: Watson-Watt Room Theme: Diversity of destination |
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| Option D 09.45 – 11.15 |
How universities interact with and support SMEs Speakers: Steve Blanks University of Sunderland, Pete Daykin CEO, Wordnerds, Rene Morency, Browser London It’s generally recognised that SMEs are the lifeblood of the economy, with UK economic growth largely dependent on the growth and prosperity of SMEs. As many of us know, the Witty review highlighted the crucial role that universities can and should have in helping to support SMEs in their growth journey. But since the report, how have universities responded in their approach to engaging with SMEs? What are the continuing challenges but also opportunities for SMEs and universities to work together? And what are the key ingredients for a successful partnership? In this session, you will hear from speakers who represent small businesses and universities, who will discuss some of the key lessons that have been learnt through developing partnerships. You will also hear about the role of the IoC in helping to develop new ways of SMEs and universities working together to benefit not only the local economy, but also academic teaching. |
Location: Blumlein Room Theme: Diversity of delivery |
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| 11.15 – 11.45 | Refreshments & networking | Location: Haslett, Marconi & Flowers Rooms |
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| 11.45 – 13.00 | Keynote by Timandra Harkness Timandra Harkness is a writer, comedian and broadcaster who has been performing on scientific, mathematical and statistical topics since the latter days of the twentieth century. She has written for newspapers and magazines including the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times, WIRED, BBC Focus, Men’s Health and Significance. |
Location: Kelvin Lecture Theatre |
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| 13.00 – 14.00 | Lunch | Location: Haslett & Flowers Rooms |
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| Conference session four Parallel sessions recommence |
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| Option A 14.00 – 15.30 |
Getting women into AI, data science and future tech specialist roles Speaker: Helen Wollaston, CEO, WISE Panellists: Isabel Draper-Edwards, Associate Software Developer, Sky, Dr. Paul Piwek Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, The Open University, Simon Rennie, Head of Digital, Siemens Mobility’s Rolling Stock division Overview of statistics, opportunities and challenges from Helen Wollaston at WISE, followed by a panel with industrial, university & learner perspectives. |
Location: Kelvin Lecture Theatre Theme: Diversity of participation |
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| Option B 14.00 – 15.30 | Making older workers work in tech Chair: Steve Anderson, Age Diversity Forum Panellists: Patrick Thomson, Senior Programme Manager, Centre for Ageing Better, Val McDonald, Founder, Happee Un Ltd, Julian Mallmann, Mission 3, Emma Stewart, Timewise Foundation Between 2018 and 2025 there are forecast to be 300,000 fewer workers under the age of 30 and 1 million more workers over the age of 50 in the UK. With these changing workforce demographics, the tech sector needs to start hiring substantially more older workers, to have a big enough workforce. This panel discussion brings together subject matter experts who are already considering how to respond to this opportunity. |
Location: Lovelace Room Theme: Diversity of participation |
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| Option C 14.00 – 15.30 |
IoC and place: perspectives from communities, regions and nations Chair:Coral Grainger Manchester Metropolitan University Speakers: Sherelle Fairweather, Manchester City Council, Patricia Keating, Tech Manchester, Professor Faron Moller, Swansea University i. Explorations of how the work and priorities of the Institute of Coding are experienced in a ‘Place Based Context’. There is a high volume of creative and digital businesses based in Manchester, making it the largest tech hub in the UK outside of London. Despite its growth, the city is experiencing a major skills gap, which continues to be one of the biggest inhibitors to growth in the creative and digital sector in the north west. To be a world-leading digital city, a strong pipeline of highly skilled digital talent is needed to ensure businesses continue to invest in their workforce and recruit locally. Manchester has a vibrant digital skills ecosystem and in this session we will share examples of a number of collaborative innovations from industry, universities and schools to develop the creative and digital workforce further, tackle the digital skills gap and enhance inclusive growth. ii. IoC in Wales Welsh universities have a long history of collaborative activity undertaking industrial and educational outreach. This began in earnest with the creation of ITWales programme in 1993, which evolved into the Technocamps programme with hubs in every university in Wales. ITWales was referred to in positive terms in the 2006 EPSRC International Review of ICT; and in a speech at a Technology Future Conference on 13 November 2007, Mike Rodd, a BCS Director, pined “If only there was an ITWales in England!” A decade later, his dream became a reality with the establishment of the IoC. In this session we shall explore what lessons can be learnt from successful regional initiatives, in particular the Technocamps/ITWales programme in Wales. | Location: Blumlein Room Theme: Diversity of delivery |
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| Option D 14.00 – 15.30 |
Diverse approaches to teaching coding to non-computer science audiences Chair: Dr. Martin Stanton, Manchester Metropolitan University Panellists: Dr. Karen Shoop, Queen Mary, University of London, Georgie Tarling, University of Exeter, Richard Nelson, University of Leeds, Gavin McClary University of Sunderland, Dr. Patricia Charlton, Open University This panel will explore the different approaches taken by IoC education partners to teach coding to non-computing science students. The panel will talk about development of digital bootcamps, summer school, online courses, Code First: Girls and a minor degree in computer science. Panel topics include an overview of the ways we can involve industry partners in the design and delivery of courses, and the benefits to both employers and students of broadening the reach of programming courses to include arts, humanities and social sciences. Following the panel’s initial overview, there will be an open discussion where the audience can ask questions or add further comments and insights. Please come to hear about the IoC events held so far and the lessons learned, and to join in the discussion. |
Location: Watson-Watt Room Theme: Diversity of delivery |
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| 15.30 – 15.45 | Break | Location: Haslett, Marconi & Flowers Rooms | |
| 15.45 – 16.00 | Closing thoughts Speaker: Dr. Rachid Hourizi, Director of the Institute of Coding |
Location: Kelvin Lecture Theatre |
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| 16.00 – 17.00 | Networking | Location: Haslett, Marconi & Flowers Rooms | |