Paul Grenyer

What:   A.I. and Cognitive Computing with Watson & Keep Secure and Under the Radar When: Wednesday 4th April, 6.30pm to 9pm. Where:  Whitespace, 2nd Floor, St James' Mill, Whitefriars, NR3 1TN RSVP:   https://www.meetup.com/Norfolk-Developers-NorDev/events/242231165/ A.I. and Cognitive Computing with Watson Colin Mower Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Computing have become the latest buzzwords in the industry, with companies big and small rushing to work out how they can take advantage of this emerging technology. In this discussion, we’ll look at the myths behind the hype, how mature the technology is and how IBM’s Watson has evolved from game show winner to one of the market leaders. Colin works for IBM as a Technical Leader, crossing all the IBM technologies and services. Prior to Big Blue, he worked in Aviva for over 14 years and has contributed to nor(DEV):con and Norfolk Developer Meetups. He still lives in Norfolk and apart from p...

We love the MigSolv data centre out at Bowthorpe in Norwich. This was nor(DEV):’s second visit and they always make us very welcome. Walking into what feels like a massive Blakes 7 set and getting the tour,including the retina scanner and massive server hall, is incredible and seriously interesting (even though it’s my third time!). The intimacy of the board room with the table down the centre and nor(DEV): members arranged each side is great for generating conversation! And when you have a humorous and huge personality like Mark Pryce-Maher it encourages the banter and the discussion even more! It’s safe to say this was one of the most interactive nor(DEV): evening presentations for some time. Mark was there to tell us about how you can run Microsoft SQL Server on Linux (or is that “Lynux”?). Anyone would think Mark had been on the WINE, but no, you really can run SQL Server natively on Linux now. The first question though, has to be “why?”. The answer is simple. Microsoft are...

Seeing as it’s been National Apprenticeship Week this week, we thought we would shine a light on our apprentices, past and present. Naked Element would be a duller place without them and the valuable work they do! We’ve had three apprentices in total, Lewis, Rain and Jack and they’ve all been invaluable to our business. Lewis spent his year-long software development apprenticeship with us, before staying on a while longer as a full-time employee. He headed User Story workshops , held meetings with clients and even managed to join in with some of the social sides of Naked Element too! Lewis got a lot out of his time with us, saying "an apprenticeship is a great way to get your foot in the door of an industry, gain some excellent skills and first-hand experience in a job you may want to turn into a career". Lewis decided to be an apprentice because he felt that a more hands-on approach to learning would suit him better than studying full time. At the time he hoped he woul...

This issue focuses on Business in Tech. Or Tech in Business, as it is almost impossible to have one without the other and they both have an equally important role to play in our region. Countless reports from business minds, governments and international organisations are all talking about how technology is going to play a bigger part in manufacturing, commerce and business in general. So where does Norfolk fit in? Luckily we’ve pulled together articles and interviews from some of the region’s leading names including Chris Sargisson and Tim Robinson, as well as celebrating all things Her with a gallery from the DevelopHER Awards. Speaking of women in tech, Hayley Johnson from Epos Now has been kind enough to close the issue with an inspirational call to action for all businesses. We hope you enjoy this new issue and share the link with your friends and colleagues! Download here .

Last week we attended the Evolution: Journey into Industry 4.0 event and it was an illuminating experience! Not only did we get to hear from some of manufacturings leading lights in the region, we got to talk alongside them at Naame’s packed conference. As well as having our exhibition stand, our Director Paul Grenyer spoke at the event, demonstrating the value of process automation within manufacturing and how it will support growth in the sector. No capital expenditure required! Paul was able to share the benefits our clients have already seen from automating processes, and have a little fun along the way too! Other speakers included industry gurus from Loughborough University, the Department for International Trade, Knowledge Transfer Manager – KTN – Innovate UK, Cranfield University, Hethel Innovation and West Suffolk College. We were also fortunate enough to hear from companies already putting automation into practice to great effect, including Warren Services, asset intell...

Held by Inspired Youth Projects , My Tech 2018 was another successful meeting of tech employers and burgeoning tech talent. Naked Element was proud to support the event, as always, and our developers really got a lot out of it too! "The MyTech Inspired Youth event brought together some of the great local tech companies and organisations including EposNow, Breakwater IT and Tech East” said our developer Henri Keeble, “It was was great talking to the students about what it is we do at Naked Element - the technically minded students showed a lot of interest. We were able to give some insight into what a career in software may look like, but also speak about the different routes we'd taken to get to where we are now, with my colleague Jack and myself having very different experiences. We were able to offer some advice we wish we'd known! It was also good to see those who were uncertain of their future career goals taking an interest in the various companies that were pres...

HELP KEEP NORWICH & NORFOLK ON THE TECH NATION MAP IN 2018 Tech Nation is a groundbreaking series of reports on the UK’s digital tech ecosystem. Over the last three years – it has captured the strength, depth and breadth of activity across the UK. It has revealed the scale of the digital tech sector, captured its growth, and – crucially – developed an understanding of the characteristics of the communities driving it. We hope to make Tech Nation 2018 the best report yet. To do this, we need your help. Last year the survey had 2,700 responses, this year we hope to reach 11,000 responses, and to hear from all tech communities in the UK to allow us to provide the most up to date and insightful data on the UK tech community in 2018. If you work in or run a business in the technology, digital sector or any business that is related to or supports these sectors such as investors, legal, education etc. then we need your input. We want to hear from you on topics such as diversi...