Every Quarter, Digital Jersey will be publishing a Snapshot of updates on our activity. These updates will provide information on the current research and projects each TAG is working towards alongside our future plans. With so much going on this is just the place to keep an eye on it all.

WE’VE MOVED!

The Digital Jersey Hub  has now opened at 3 The Forum, Grenville Street. The facilities include a Skills Zone, for training and development, a co-working space to support start-ups, the Digital Jersey team and a breakout and events area.  We aim for the Hub to be the heart and soul of the digital sector in Jersey, a focus for informal and formal meet ups as well as a place to meet, think, work and be creative.

The official opening will take place on Thursday 15 May 2014. Guests are welcome to come along and visit the Hub throughout the day from 9:30am till 4:30pm. There will also be 6 workshops in the style of an [un]Conference following on from the success of Jersey’s Island Innovators last month. Digital Jersey members are also welcome to attend the evening event from 6-8pm (by invitation – please contact [email protected]

For more information on the Hub please visit our web site at www.digital.je/hub

EVENTS

Island Innovators [un]Conference

The Island Innovators [un]Conference took place on the 3-6 April 2014.  Sponsored by Locate Jersey and Digital Jersey, the three day event was hosted by the Yossi Vardi, one of Israel's leading entrepreneurs with over 40 years’ experience of co-founding, leading and participating in over 80 high-tech companies. Yossi co-pioneered instant messaging as the founding investor and the former Chairman of Mirabilis Ltd., the creator of the highly popular instant messaging programme ICQ now owned by AOL.  Yossi brought together over 140 participants from more than 20 countries, with representatives from major companies including Google, Microsoft and Twitter, plus entrepreneurs, thinkers, opinion makers and influencers, together with 40 participants from Jersey. The [un]conference format is one where the agenda is driven by the participants and purposefully allows people to create their own ideas and discuss opportunities and challenges in and around the digital arena.  The objectives of the conference were:

• To put Jersey on the map with digital movers and shakers around the world
• To bring latest thoughts and ideas to the island
• To create contacts for the Jersey digital sector

Feedback from the conference has been outstandingly positive, with comments including:

• “Well done on what I thought could be a "turning point" event for the Island's digital and creative industries. You and your teams did fantastically well to get it here and it was a resounding success”.
   
• “It was inspirational and educational to have the chance to meet, talk with and in some cases befriend our visitors. I think we also managed to pick up a lot of information about what they would expect Jersey to be doing in terms of preparing and positioning to build some form of digital or 'tech' hub”.
   
• “I have worked in this Industry for 30 years and attended many events/conferences. I can honestly say that I have never attended such an inspirational event EVER”!
   
• “The format and attendees were excellent.  My faith in this industry has been revitalised knowing there are people out there with a similar ethos to myself”.
   
• “Many congratulations to your team for hosting such a fabulous event. I have made many good / friends/ contacts and invitations all over the world”.

The education event held before the conference where 12 entrepreneurs spent time with 200 Jersey students also attracted great feedback, from both the students who attended and the participants who kindly gave their time.

The response is certainly encouraging the event to be held again and it is up to the Jersey participants to make the most out of the opportunities and contacts from the event. Please do keep us informed of developments so that we can share these as we look to develop support for next year.

Understanding eCommerce

In April, Ivan Nikkhoo held a seminar on Understanding e-commerce. Ivan talked about the evolution of business models, the current state of the market alongside key parameters and international expansion.

To watch a short video edit from the evening, please see: http://bit.ly/1gXqrwb

Be Very Afraid

In March Professor Stephen Heppell brought his famous Be Very Afraid event to Jersey, with teams of students from 9 schools and Highlands showcasing their technology projects.  The daylong event, held at the Radisson, allowed the teams to discuss their projects with the many attending guests.  Feedback from the event included;

• “It’s all about inspiration, we need to get students inspiring to want something different and this event offers them that opportunity”.
   
• “If Jersey’s future depends on the ingenuity and imagination of these students, then Jersey doesn’t need to “Be Afraid”, we are safe in their hands. If Jersey’s future depends on getting the policies right to allow them to be as brave as they’ve been today, then we’ve got some work to do, we’ve got to run to keep up with these kids”.
   
• “Having run “Be Very Afraid’s” all around the world, everywhere, I can’t ever remember seeing such a good, strong, level of community.”

Closing remarks by Deputy Rod Bryans, Assistant Minister for Education, acknowledged the ingenuity and presentation by the students, while thanking Digital Jersey and Professor Heppell for this unique event.

To watch a short video edit from the day, please see: http://bit.ly/PAnLNE  

What is wise for parents in this new digital age?

Also, in March, Professor Stephen Heppell held a seminar on “what is wise for parents in this new digital age?”

To watch a short video edit from the evening, please see: http://bit.ly/1lF9qNT

Cryptocurrencies Workshop

In February, Digital Jersey held a Cryptocurrencies workshop, this panel-led discussion explored the unique opportunities that Jersey will inevitably face with the growing trend of digital currencies.

For more information and to view our statement, please see: http://bit.ly/1mHvy8o

eGovernment

Two events were held on the roll out of the eGovernment vision, covering the approach to procurement, delivery and maintenance of the eGovernment programme. See report here: http://bit.ly/1q5HEcX

UPCOMING EVENTS

Hub Open Day – Thursday 15 May 2014 – 9:30 until 4:30pm

To register: https://digitaljerseyhubopenday.eventbrite.co.uk

The Hub is holding an ‘open house’ all day event, providing an introduction to the facilities.  Additionally workshops are being run as follows:

[un]Conference Style Workshop Slots

Estonia eGovernment Visit

A delegation led by Senator Maclean with participants from government and industry is visiting Estonia, week of June 9th, to see eGovernment in action in a leading jurisdiction. If you are interested in participating, please contact: [email protected]

TAG Activity

The Hub’s Skills Zone: the skills zone is all about learning the right skills and the right knowledge of the digital industry and society. Please see the following link to get an idea of what workshops/ events and programmes we will be running.  https://www.digital.je/hub/skills-zone

Coding for Women: we are delighted to announce that another programme will be running in the summer. Please visit https://www.digital.je/events/coding-for-women- for more information.

Jersey Coders: the after school club for teenagers wanting to learn coding and IT skill will be now using our Skills Zone area every Wednesday evening. If you are interested in Jersey Coders, please email: [email protected].   

Social Gaming: Digital Jersey are currently waiting for an eGaming and Social Gaming research paper from KPMG. Research will then be undertaken to understand what Jersey needs to do within this area. 

Crypto Currencies: Following on from the public workshop on 27 February 2014, Digital Jersey’s statement on Cryptocurrencies was published on 2 April 2014. A meeting between private and public stakeholders will be taking place on 8 May 2014.

Data Protection: European legislation regarding the protection of personal data is going to be modified shortly. Digital Jersey has started to monitor is latest EU modifications on data protection.  Such monitoring would ideally contribute to assess the impact that EU law may have in the future, on Jersey’s data protection law and other sets of legislation concerning, e.g. the provision of medical services using the new Information and Communication Technology.

IS Sourcing: in January, Digital Jersey published consolidated feedback from industry to government with recommendations to improve government sourcing of IT services.  The paper recognised that the industry also has to change to improve service provision.  The paper is now being used to inform the eGovernment roll out. The paper can be found at: http://bit.ly/1lp7Wpn

Enabling Effective Data Connectivity: in March, Digital Jersey published a paper addressing the concerns of the digital sector regarding various data connectivity issues, calling for action from government, CICRA and Jersey Telecom. The paper can be found at: https://www.digital.je/news/data-connectivity

Fibre connectivity for businesses in St Helier: working in collaboration, Jersey Telecom and Digital Jersey are accelerating the roll out of Gigabit fibre connectivity to digital sector businesses in St Helier.  The new schedule will connect businesses to fibre by the year end, up to two years earlier than the previously programmed.

eGovernment: the roll out of the eGovernment plan is gathering pace, with the vision and near term objectives being presented to an engaged and supportive audience on March 28th, including an excellent address by Chief Minister, Senator Ian Gorst.  The ambitious goal for eGovernemnt is for 75% of all interactions with government to be ‘digital’ by 2018. A second meeting was held on Friday 2nd May providing more detail on the roll out of the programme and the opportunity for service providers. Documents from these meetings can be found at: https://www.digital.je/resources

TAG Structure

A year in to operating, Digital Jersey has reviewed the Technical Action Group structure and will shortly be communicating a revised approach that will better utilise the TAG participants time and contribution.  The contribution from our TAG members has and continues to delivered great value to the development of the organisation and I am extremely grateful for this.  Having discussed this with the TAG chairs we agree that the approach should evolve and I look forward to rolling this out and discussing with our TAG members shortly.  May I take this opportunity to say a very sincere ‘thank you’ to all those that support us and give off their time.

Other related News

Hub Website Launch

We have now launched the hub section on our website. These pages allow you to see what is going on at the hub, including the facilities, programmes, workshop and events that we offer. This can be accessed via: www.digital.je/hub

Under the facilities section of the Hub page www.digital.je/hub/facilities you can access our Google Calendar. This will allow users to view the available slots/areas in the hub and book meeting rooms etc.

If you are a digital start-up company and need somewhere to run your business, grow your business, connect your business and develop your business the sign up and become a resident user of our co-working space by filling the application form on our website: www.digital.je/hub/co-working-zone

Digital Jersey Team

Digital Jersey is delighted to announce that Andrew Jarrett has joined the organisation as a Director. In this new role he will be responsible for business development opportunities, as well as supporting on-island business growth, key off-island relationships and exploring new markets.

We also have a new Project Manager, Carla Harris who is facilitating our Educational initiatives, include the Digital Jersey Hub Programme, the Coding Programme and a Schools Digital Programme.