Creative and Digital Conference at BattleLab Held at Dorset Innovation Park Connects Likeminded Professionals in Key Networking Event

The college held its second Creative and Digital Industries Conference at BattleLab, a Ministry of Defence (MoD)/Dorset Council collaboration at Dorset Innovation Park in Winfrith near Wool on Friday, 30^th August 2024.

A virtual and physical community, the BattleLab space allows academia, along with both traditional and non-traditional suppliers, to access its facilities alongside Defence. The facility invites participants to: “learn together, devise solutions and seek innovation in a state-of-the-art workspace, making engagement with the defence sector more effortless.” 

The idea of holding the Creative and Digital Industries (CDI) Conference at Battlelab was through a collaborative effort in and of itself - suggested by Sharon Jones, a speaker from the Royal Navy (also of Women in Tech Dorset – or WITD), along with Creative and Digital Industries Director of Bournemouth and Poole College, Stuart Palmer. And what a great space! (see photographs beneath this story). 

The first speaker kicking off the Conference and setting the scene was Rosie Knapper from Dorset Chamber, who spoke of the Dorset Local Skills Improvement Plan, (LSIP) and how educators and colleges can help feed into local demographics. 

Rosie alerted the audience to details of the LSIP report (August 2023) and also highlighted how the skills system can address some of the issues and priorities faced by employers when recruiting, retaining and upskilling their staff, with targeted interventions. 

Furthermore, Rosie emphasised the latest government Labour Market Statistics (LMS Report, 2024) which state that [in the UK]: “From April to June 2024, 9.41 million people aged 16-64 were economically inactive, and the inactivity rate was 22.2%. Inactivity levels increased by around 350,000 over the last year and the inactivity rate increased.” In Dorset, that figure is slightly higher at 23% across the Dorset Council region and 30% across the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP Council) region – so we have more work to do.  

Next up, was David Burnet from Invidar – a company that ‘Empowers Agencies & Brands with Global Real-time 3D Solutions & Innovations’, who showed how Avatars are created for bespoke products. He walked through some innovative 3D modelling, Realtime and development solutions that Invidar creates for businesses. 

The third speaker to round off before the break was Sharon Jones of the Royal Navy who talked of ‘portfolio careers’ and how the newer Generation-Alpha (birth years 2010-2024) - and subsequent Generation-Betas and so on, will need to diversify their talent pool in terms of the job market and be capable of doing more than one role, so we may need to multiply-upskill the workforce. Sharon spoke of being a headteacher and how it didn’t suit her, after many years of teaching, and her subsequent move to a completely new field of work.

Sharon said: “For me today is about bringing industries together with educators and businesses or organisations to prepare for the next cycle; the next term, the next year, the next five years….the energy and positivity we generate today in the general area of Dorset and the college - by meeting with teams from the college - will help guide and develop young people through their story.”

The second part of the Conference was given over to a further three invigorating speakers – Gordon Fong of X-Net tech business, Martha Earley from Lighthouse Poole - a multi-arts venue with theatre, live events, film and visual art and finally, Penny Norman from the Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) talking about tech and the sustainable fashion industry. 

Gordon delivered his speech on his transition and move to Dorset Innovation Park and how it benefitted his business X-Net to have his industry in the park which is leading the way in the security sector internationally. X-Net currently is through a transition process as it brings our various brands under one umbrella name – housing brands such as X-Net II, Kimcell, Datacenta Hosting, or e-mango. 

Martha Earley talked of the successive Covid-19 lockdowns and her time moving from County Cork (designated as the European city of culture, 2005) over to the Lighthouse Poole. She talked about how we needed to diversify in terms of creating art around the communities on offer and had some amazing wisdom to share about how to engage with communities from an artistic perspective. 

Finally, Penny Norman (Arts University Bournemouth) shared her journey from student to lecturer in the fashion industry by creating company ThruDark Ltd, which minimises wastage and delivers on comfort. 

Stuart Palmer, Director of Creative and Digital Services at Bournemouth and Poole College, closing the event said: “The interface between creative and technology is the sweet spot of every successful national economy. Our annual Creative and Digital Industries Conference brought together key elements of our local creative economy. This event was hosted by the amazing BattleLab and featured an impressive line-up of experts, leaders and protagonists from leading organisations in our creative and digital sectors. They all shared key elements of our local creative and digital economy and focused on retaining talent and raising aspirations, what businesses need for growth and insights into career paths. Look out for details of our next conference coming up on Wednesday 20^th of November”.