Regional innovation scoreboard imminent

Most of the time we compare the relative performance of the West Midlands to that of other English regions, but how do we compare with other regions in the wider EU?
INNO Metric’s 2006 Regional Innovation Scoreboard (RIS) (PDF, 644kb) made such comparisons, assessing data from over two hundred regions across twenty-five states of the EU to [...]

Innovating out of recession workshop summary

With innovation seen as a key way for businesses to navigate the recession, the Innovating out of Recession workshop at our Annual Conference brought together an interesting mix of speakers and delegates to discuss innovative practices, measuring innovation and how innovation may change the industrial structure of the West Midlands.
Cliff Dennett from thoughtengine, co-author of [...]

Engaging communities in the new economy – Observatory conference debate

Support the community organisations who are working on the ground, was a strong theme in both workshops on ‘engaging communities in the new economy’ at the Observatory’s 2009 Annual Conference.
The workshop heard from voices working with communities in the region who articulated their frustrations in having to fit their work around funders’ requirements, rather than [...]

Roundup of workshop on skills for the emerging economy

‘Skills for the emerging economy’ was a lively and well-attended workshop held at the Observatory’s Annual Conference on 20th October 2009.
Steve Sawbridge, from the Association of Colleges, chaired the workshop, which featured presentations from Mike Beasley, Pat Jackson and Andy Phillips.

Environment and economy: Fit for the Future?

The 2009 Observatory conference, West Midlands: Fit for the Future?, provided a forum for debate on economic recovery in the West Midlands.
One element of the debate concentrated on how to link the environment and economy better, based on chapters 4 and 9 of the Fit for the Future? book.
Delegates at the Environment and Economy workshop discussed Green Infrastructure, leadership and [...]

What will be the key drivers for the West Midlands’ future? Notes from ‘Regional Drivers for the Future’ workshop at the Observatory’s 2009 conference

There was little disagreement from workshop participants with Gill Bentley’s opening suggestion that ‘this recession is almost tantamount to war’ in terms of its impact on the region’s prosperity.
Dr Chris Upton’s account, in chapter 1 of West Midlands: Fit for the Future? (PDF, 5.7mb), of the devastating impact that the 1790s war with France had [...]

Presentations and speeches from Annual Conference

We held our Annual Conference, titled ‘West Midlands: Fit for the Future?’, yesterday in Sutton Coldfield.
The focus of the conference was on the economic recovery of the West Midlands, rather than the recession, and how we best position the West Midlands for the economic recovery.
The conference followed on from the book West Midlands: Fit for the [...]

Live blogging the Observatory’s Annual Conference

Our 2009 Annual Conference, titled West Midlands: Fit for the Future?, takes place tomorrow in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham.
You can keep up-to-date with comments and tweets about the conference as it unfolds on the day using this CoverItLive liveblog.
You can add comments directly in the liveblog itself or by sending a tweet containing the hashtag #wmroconf09.
All [...]

Feedback on Sharing Information Digitally event

We hosted an event on Sharing Information Digitally on 7th October 2009 at Millennium Point in Birmingham.
We tried a new structure for this event—part traditional presentations, part practical sessions—and thought we’d share some feedback on the event (from attendees and ourselves).

Blog Action Day ’09 Climate Change

15th October is Blog Action Day 2009, an annual event when bloggers around the world post about a common issue on the same day.
The aim is to raise awareness and encourage discussion around a global issue.
This year’s topic is climate change.

Roundup from Sharing Information Digitally event

Yesterday’s event at Millennium Point looked at the whys and hows of making public data more accessible.
There were also some practical discussions looking at using social media and online tools to improve sharing data and information.
Richard Wilson, from Sandwell PCT and Chair of the Population & Society Group, chaired the day. You can listen to [...]

Follow ‘Sharing Information Digitally’ event live

You can keep up-to-date with comments and tweets about this event as it unfolds on 7th October using this CoverItLive page.
You can add comments through the CoverItLive page or by sending a tweet containing the hashtag #wmrosid.
All the content surrounding the event—photos, useful links, videos, blog posts, tweets, and so on—is aggregated on this Pagecast. [...]

Speakers announced for the 2009 conference

One month to go until the Observatory’s 2009 conference - “West Midlands: Fit for the Future?” – on Tuesday 20th October at the Ramada Hotel in Sutton Coldfield.
Book online or fax us a booking form
Entitled “West Midlands: Fit for the Future?”, the conference will follow on from a book of the same name launched by the [...]

Invitation to ONS 2011 Census outputs consultation event in Leicester

The next full census of England and Wales will take place in 2011. It includes a number of new approaches which will be evaluated during a rehearsal on 11th October 2009 with around 135,000 selected households in three local authority areas.
The Census Rehearsal will test, among other things, the questions being asked, the accuracy of [...]

Summary of data, mashups and APIs event

Last Wednesday, I went to an event at Fazeley Studios in Birmingham to explore innovative, useful and important applications of data.
The event — titled Data, Mashups and APIs — was organised by Birmingham Social Media Cafe and sponsored by The Guardian, Barefoot Wine and Screen WM.
I won’t try and summarise the whole event. A huge [...]