The future of education

Posted by Judith on November 1, 2007 1:03 PM

Waterstons' Managing Director, Mike Waterston talks about the part technology is playing in the future of our Universities and Colleges...

Technology is undoubtedly transforming the world of education. The progressive growth in the power of choice for the average student is making the world of education a very competitive place. Universities and Colleges have to worry about providing students with both a great life and learning experience if they are to build a reputation for educational excellence.

In parallel with these key cultural changes the arrival of the technically aware student combined with the availability of broader internet bandwidth and the speed with which communications and collaboration tools are evolving is placing technology at the centre of a profound shift in improving the level of service to the student.

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Santos. L. Helper

Posted by Katie Pringle on November 5, 2007 7:48 PM

Myself and my business partner have on numerous occassions (usually when something is going wrong) felt as though we are chained to our business. However this has taken on a more literal meaning in the last few weeks as we struggle to fulfil our order obligations in the busy run up to Christmas.

I arrive back from 'my other job' and I feel the work room calling to me with a slippery tongue. It tells me I cannot, must not sit down. I walk zombie like to confront the mountain of products that need completing. Pick up, put in bag, attach label, punch hole for display, pick up, put in bag, attach label, punch hole for display, pick up, put in bag, attach label, punch hole for display so on and so on ad infinitum until mind and body are comfortably numb.

At this point I slap myself around a bit and enjoy the simple but satisfying pleasure of knowing that for the last few weeks and for a few more to come I have The Best Job In The World

'Why?' you ask...

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Yes (Shadow) Minister

Posted by Ross Smith on November 9, 2007 1:58 PM

North East Chamber of Commerce members in Sunderland enjoyed a lively meeting with Mark Hoban recently. For those who don't know, Mr Hoban has been appointed Shadow Minister for Wearside by the Conservative Party, in addition to his other job as a member of the party's Treasury team.

His Wearside role mirrors that of Alan Duncan, the Shadow Business Secretary who for the past 18 months has doubled as Shadow Minister for Tyneside. For Labour's part, Newcastle East and Wallsend MP Nick Brown was earlier this year given the task of acting as Minister for the North East.

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Business jargon

Posted by Andrew Mernin on November 13, 2007 3:15 PM

'Blue-sky thinking', 'turn-key solution' and 'inclusive visioning' are just some of the daft business phrases that have been discussed and laughed at on our forum this week.

Whether its due to more and more bosses reading American management guides or people taking The Office's David Brent as a genuine role model, the business world seems to be awash with terminology which is ultimately meaningless.

There really are some gems floating around in offices across the region. My favourites include brain dump - to extract the knowledge of an expert employee for the benefit of others - and bouncebackability - the ability of a business to (yes you guessed it) bounce back.

But if you think these are bad, then take a look at some of the phrases being used across the pond in corporate USA.

After a quick browse through a few American websites I managed to find some real corkers. My favourite was "Can I stir fry an idea in your think-wok?", which means "can I have your opinion on this issue?". Others include "blamestorming" - like brainstorming but with the objective of finding a scapegoat - and zerotasking - doing nothing.

So what are your favourite jargon phrases? Have you ever made up your own business terminology?

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Visions of the future

Posted by Judith on November 19, 2007 11:14 AM

Waterstons' executive consultant, Alistair McLeod, debates where technology will take us...

I was watching BBC Four's new series called ‘Visions of the Future’ the other night and it got me pondering about what an exciting time we live in, and what the future will hold for us in the next twenty or so years. It may not feel like it, but we are really only at the start of the information revolution, and we still have some way to go before we can say that information is truly available on-demand wherever we are. The Internet is the greatest biggest contributing factor to the information age, and if somebody told me when I was child in the seventies that we would be able to download music, news, information, and chat with people on the other side of the planet I would not have believed it would be possible, yet we now all take it for granted.

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It's getting better all the time

Posted by Ross Smith on November 19, 2007 1:42 PM

Two sets of statistics last week made very encouraging reading for the North East economy.

Firstly, employment statistics showed the region has more people in work than ever before, with the employment rate growing faster than anywhere else in the country.

Secondly, business registration statistics showed the region has more businesses than ever before, with the largest increase of any region in the UK.

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And the winner is…

Posted by Norma Foster on November 21, 2007 11:46 AM

Take it from me; the North East is blessed with numerous examples of businesses who have successfully adopted new digital technologies. Far from being flippant, I find such stories both hugely satisfying and equally inspirational. In recognition of these achievements, we at The North East Regional Portal (TNERP) have developed The North East Digital Awards.

Funded by regional development agency One NorthEast, the awards will celebrate the success of businesses within the digital arena, whether small or large scale. The North East Digital Awards website www.northeastdigitalawards.co.uk will be the basis for an interactive digital community, where visitors can show their support for registered businesses and vote for them in a variety of award categories.

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Blame It On The Media

Posted by Julian christopher on November 22, 2007 10:56 PM

So, farewell then, Steve McClaren. Your short, and not at all sweet reign as England manager comes to an end on the back of a team performance that brought a whole new dimension to the word ‘insipid’.

As seems to increasingly be the case these days when anything high profile goes pear-shaped, the blame game starts immediately – on whom can we pin this latest failure now that the main man has taken the bullet with his name on it?

In this case, is it the players, the FA, the pitch, the weather, the coaches, the system, the media?...

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An Englishman in Africa

Posted by Ian Wilkin on November 27, 2007 5:00 AM

The email landed in my inbox approximately four weeks ago, declaring “New Secondment Opportunities!” as it arrived. Needing little excuse to distract me from a morning of auditing the use of the exclamation point in the subject title was enough excitement for the email to warrant a minute or two of my attention.

Little did I realise when I opened that email that less than four weeks later I would be rushing for a plane to Malawi, Africa where I would be heading up the Finance and Administration team of a Christian Mission Hospital!

Through this blog I will share with you the challenges, frustrations and adventures of living and working in a country with a significantly different culture, issues and methods of working, a country quite unlike any I have ever visited before. Some of the many challenges I will face in the course of my work will include dealing with extreme poverty, water shortages and sporadic electricity… and that was just the first day.

Please take the opportunity to ask any questions as I go along or share advice wherever you can - I've got a feeling I'll need all the help I can get!

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Green IT

Posted by Judith on November 28, 2007 4:11 PM

Waterstons' technical director Andrew Kershaw talks about how IT can make a positive impact on the environment around us...

With climate change becoming a reality the importance of operating in an energy efficient way is becoming increasingly accepted. Up until recently energy efficiency in IT meant how long would your laptop battery last whilst away from the office. This attitude is clearly changing and leaders are starting to emerge to demonstrate what is possible. Two key areas in which IT can make a difference are reducing power consumption, and enabling flexible working.

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Simply Brilliant!

Posted by Norma Foster on November 29, 2007 11:28 AM

We’re working hard to encourage entrepreneurship in the North East of England, and the YouTrade initiative is doing just that; it has helped 10 people set up business using eBay.

One YouTrader, Dunston-based Melanie Dixon, has seized this opportunity with both hands - only three months after launching her business ‘Colourwithme’ which sells pre-designed cartoon birthday cards for kids to colour, Melanie says she is already looking at expanding her range.

When we launched YouTrade, we wanted to inspire people to be enterprising and to turn their ideas into something real and I am delighted that Mel’s venture has taken off so quickly. She is proving to be an inspiration and an example to us all of how a great idea coupled with creativity and enterprising spirit can become something big. She is a fantastic example to all budding entrepreneurs of the virtues of thinking outside the box, and having the vision and drive to take one simple yet very clever idea and run with it.

We want to encourage and support entrepreneurship in the region and the YouTrade competition has been a fantastic opportunity for 10 entrepreneurs to develop a business idea online.

Find out more about the YouTrade competition and the other nine winners here.

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Leaving on a jet plane...

Posted by Ian Wilkin on November 29, 2007 2:35 PM

The email landed in my inbox approximately four weeks ago, declaring “New Secondment Opportunities!” as it arrived.

Now any excuse to distract from a day of audit and accountancy is usually a welcome one and the use of the exclamation point in the subject title was enough excitement for the email to warrant a minute or two of my attention.

Little did I realise when I opened that email that less than four weeks later I would be rushing for a plane to Malawi, Africa where I would be heading up the Finance and Administration team of a Christian Mission Hospital!

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Hello from Malawi

Posted by Ian Wilkin on November 30, 2007 12:51 PM

Hello from Malawi, or “moni, muli bwanji” if you prefer your greetings in the local dialect.

I finally arrived here 31 hours after leaving home in Newcastle after a number of delayed flights and one missed flight.

Due to “general engine problems” the plane sat for 3 hours on the runway in Amsterdam before finally taking off, which with only 90 minutes between the planes landing in and departing from Nairobi, this left things a little tight.

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