Blog

Peaks and Perils of Long Term Virtual Working: Leadership lessons from the front line.

by Marianne Whitfield
June 26, 2020June 26, 2020

Digital technologies introduced the concept of virtual working to the business world decades ago. Equipped with laptops, smartphones and wi-fi, organisations started slowly adopting virtual teams in business practices to connect geographically dispersed organisational stakeholders in virtual space. Although the shift to virtual teams was driven by the need to… Read More »Peaks and Perils of Long Term Virtual Working: Leadership lessons from the front line.

Digital Skills for Tomorrow’s Workforce

by Kate Baucherel
July 3, 2019

Whilst companies continually look to improve productivity and drive greater efficiency, the use of new technologies continues to play an increasingly important role in shaping tomorrow’s businesses. Whilst much has been made in the media about the “high risk” of millions of jobs effectively being lost to technologies such as… Read More »Digital Skills for Tomorrow’s Workforce

Digital Transformation: a multi-headed monster

by Kate Baucherel
February 27, 2019

At our previous Sphere Network discussion on the topic of the Future of Work, we focused predominantly on the extent to which human redundancy, ‘any time, any place’ working and participation in the gig economy are becoming the norm. We also spent time looking at PwC’s ‘four worlds of work… Read More »Digital Transformation: a multi-headed monster

Blockchain and the Real World

by Kate Baucherel
October 31, 2018October 31, 2018

There is a theory that any innovation follows a lifecycle that is shaped like an S-curve and goes through a number of distinct stages: ferment, takeoff, maturity, and discontinuity. There is another stage that comes between fermentation and takeoff, when the fence-sitters are still in the majority, and really aren’t… Read More »Blockchain and the Real World

What’s bubbling in Augmented and Virtual Reality?

by Kate Baucherel
June 15, 2018October 31, 2018

There was a full house at Newcastle Arts Centre on a sunny but cold May evening where Sphere Network members were treated to a real insight into the present-day sci fi of augmented and virtual reality. We started with a bit of jargon busting from Hedgehog Lab‘s Shaun Allen, who… Read More »What’s bubbling in Augmented and Virtual Reality?

Travel and transport in a connected world

by Kate Baucherel
April 30, 2018

When a passenger recently tweeted @My_Metro to ask abut a service delay, the operator was concerned. “Have there been no announcements?” they asked. “I don’t know,” came the response. “I’ve got my headphones on.” The expectations of consumers increasingly involve spontaneous technical solutions, not simply in communication but in all… Read More »Travel and transport in a connected world

Internet of Things – Opportunity or Threat?

by Kate Baucherel
April 23, 2018April 23, 2018

This event was the first in a series of sessions the Sphere Network will be holding to discuss the growth of IoT and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things). Facilitated by Charles Sellers, and hosted by Northumbria University, the event was a sell out and we had a full house in… Read More »Internet of Things – Opportunity or Threat?

Exploring the Future of Work

by Kate Baucherel
March 2, 2018March 2, 2018

With a very diverse audience with expertise in many different sectors we gathered to look at different perspectives on the future of work and to explore our own vision & preferences for our future work too. The plan was to explore four perspectives: research and evidence being collected now; how… Read More »Exploring the Future of Work

Meeting the challenges of cybersecurity

by Kate Baucherel
January 23, 2018
1 Comment

Cybersecurity was the hot topic on a cold night in Sunderland. Sphere Network was delighted to co-host this event with BCS North East, bringing a group of Masters students together with businesses to examine the challenges and opportunities of the increasingly fraught arena of cybercrime. The cybersecurity landscape is complex,… Read More »Meeting the challenges of cybersecurity

The Opportunity of Ageing

by Kate Baucherel
November 29, 2017December 7, 2017
1 Comment

The Opportunity of Ageing The challenges of population ageing in a digital age were debated by Sphere Network members at the November round table event, hosted by the Northern Design Centre at Baltimore House. Attendees were drawn from multiple sectors, with representatives from the National Innovation Centre for Ageing; the… Read More »The Opportunity of Ageing