Merged Futures 6: Kiran Patel’s key takeaways of the day

Our Principal Product Manager, Kiran Patel, recently attended the University of Northampton’s beautiful Waterside Campus for Digital Northants’ sixth annual Merged Futures event. With plenty of creative and innovative topics to explore, he was happy to see his home county making significant noise on the Digital scene. Read on for his take on the day.

As someone who's lived in Northamptonshire for most of my life, I was pleased, excited and positively intrigued about my very first annual tech event at the University's Waterside Campus. I've made no secret of mentioning this in the past, but I think it’s fair to say that my local area isn’t particularly well-known for being on the cusp of cutting-edge creativity.

Cobbling shoes? Yes. Being home to the Premiership Rugby champions? Now, yes... but not so much technological innovation.

However, Digital Northants’ Merged Futures events are fast changing that narrative and I found the opening keynote speeches both informative and inspiring. The themes outlined in the initial remarks set the tone for the rest of the day brilliantly:

• Technology for good - the key theme of the day’s topicswas about showcasingtechnology being used for social benefit. We heard some wonderful stories about using VR technology to help relieve anxietyin care homes, as well as assisting students in classroom settings.
• Local - the event highlightedsome of the fantastic local people and businesses who have been building great communities and leading amazing initiatives for many years.
• Awareness - putting the "county on the digital map".

One of my personal highlights of the day was seeing first-hand, the fantastic work that TMM have done at building an engaged and vibrant community, both locally and around the world (with events from Northampton to Tokyo), but there were also some great products on show too.

Throughout it all I kept thinking about the WHAT and WHY. What was the problem that was being solved and why were these user experiences that had been delivered so great?

It was plain to see from a technology perspective that all of these products were innovative and boundary-pushing. However, there were some key principles that were ever present in each:

• Problem - At the root of each product was a problem that needed to be solved. The betterment of human lives was usually at its core.
• Empathy - Whether it was isolated people in care homes, students with additional learning needs or vulnerable people, there was a clear connection with the users.
• Fail and learn - Users were encouraged to explore the technology. There was a safe, risk-free environment where you could fail and learn, creating greater adoption with the technology.

I came away from the day, really pleased about what I’d seen. I’d met some amazingly talented people, seen some great products and most of all, saw first-hand the positive changes they were making to people’s lives... all right on my doorstep!

Thank you, Digital Northants, next year’s Merged Futures cannot come quick enough!