Help Shape Croydon's Cultural Scene: Your Voice Matters!
Help shape the future of arts and culture in Croydon! Culture Croydon recognises the importance of robust community engagement. If you're not a member, now is your chance to make your voice heard!
Culture Croydon is working to support and promote arts and culture in Croydon. By taking a few minutes to complete our engagement questionnaire, you can help us:
Gain a deeper understanding of the needs, challenges, and aspirations of all communities in Croydon.
Develop more inclusive and effective community engagement strategies.
Improve our communication to better reach and engage new audiences.
We value your input on:
How often you engage with arts and cultural activities in your local area of Croydon.
What main barriers prevent you from participating in cultural activities in Croydon.
How Culture Croydon can improve its communication to better reach and engage new audiences.
Your feedback is invaluable in ensuring that everyone in Croydon can be a part of our vibrant cultural scene. Have your say and help us shape a brighter cultural future for Croydon!
London's Defence and Security Scene Gets a Boost: A Report from the Cluster Launch
The launch of the London Regional Defence and Security Cluster (LRDSC) at the IET marked a pivotal moment for the capital's defence and security landscape. The event buzzed with energy, bringing together a diverse mix of industry giants, nimble start-ups, government representatives, and academics, all united by a shared vision. The day unfolded with insightful keynote speeches from leading figures like Anita Friend of DASA and Daniel Weil of the Royal Navy, sparking lively debate and setting the stage for collaboration. Themed networking sessions offered focused discussions, allowing attendees to connect with peers and explore potential partnerships. The closing panel, featuring experts from DASA, Telecent, Saab UK, and QinetiQ, provided a forward-looking perspective on the cluster's role in shaping the future of defence and security in London. For companies like Cottage Factory, passionate about collaboration and cocreation, the LRDSC represents a valuable opportunity to connect with key players, access resources, and contribute to a thriving ecosystem of innovation. This launch signifies not just the birth of a cluster, but the dawn of a new era of collaboration, driving growth and strengthening the UK's defence and security capabilities.
Founder Voices: Empowering Potential - A Conversation with Ola Ogunyemi
Founder Voices: A Conversation with Ola Ogunyemi, CEO and Founder of SFM
Ola Ogunyemi, SFM president, empowers vulnerable groups in Africa. Hear his story of philanthropy, mentorship, and transformation.
CIO Vision 2025: Bridging the Gap Between BI and AI
This MIT Technology Review Insights report, sponsored by Databricks, explores how CIOs are driving AI adoption in their organizations. Based on a global survey of 600 technology leaders, the report finds that companies are moving from limited AI use to widespread adoption across core business functions by 2025.
However, scaling AI successfully requires overcoming challenges such as data management shortcomings, internal rigidities, and talent deficits. The report highlights key priorities for CIOs, including:
Investing in data foundations: Improving data processing speeds, governance, and quality.
Scaling AI use cases: Driving innovation and efficiency across different functions.
Aligning data strategy with AI ambitions: Ensuring data capabilities support AI goals.
Unlocking AI's Potential: Three Pillars of Success
Unlocking AI's Potential: Three Pillars of Success
AI and machine learning (ML) hold immense promise, but many organisations struggle to realise tangible benefits. This article explores the three critical factors that underpin successful AI initiatives:
Data Foundation: A robust data foundation is crucial, enabling proactive planning and effective responses to market changes.
Scaling ML: Democratising access to data and empowering individuals across the organisation to leverage data for informed decision-making is essential. This involves embracing open standards and enabling data consumers to easily perform data exploration and generate ML models.
Simplified MLOps: Streamlined MLOps are essential for accelerating the ML lifecycle and ensuring the use of the most current and reliable data. This involves unifying data and ML models, providing end-to-end processing, and fostering collaboration.
Enhancing Community Engagement in Croydon's Cultural Sector
Have Your Say: Help Shape Croydon's Cultural Future
Culture Croydon is working to ensure that everyone in Croydon can access and enjoy the borough's vibrant cultural scene. To help achieve this, Cottage Factory has been commissioned to carry out an important engagement research project, and we need your help!
This project aims to:
Understand the current state of community engagement in Croydon.
Identify barriers that prevent people from taking part in cultural activities.
Develop strategies for more inclusive and effective engagement.
Learn from the successes of previous engagement projects such as the London Borough of Culture.
Inform the work of projects such as the Stanley Arts Creative People and Places project who are working to engage under-represented communities.
We want to hear from you, whether you're a resident, artist, community organiser, or cultural worker in Croydon. Your experiences and insights will help us make sure that everyone has the chance to be involved in Croydon's cultural life. The research will be carried out in a number of ways:
We’ll be analysing data from the London Borough of Culture period to identify trends and gaps.
We’ll be mapping current activities to find areas and communities that may be underserved.
We’ll be holding interviews and focus groups to gather more in-depth feedback.
We’ll be distributing surveys across Croydon to understand community needs and preferences.
The research will also take into account Culture Croydon's access tiers, recognising that different organisations and artists have varied levels of experience with accessibility. This will allow us to tailor our support, so that it addresses the different needs of everyone in the cultural sector.
The main data gathering stage will take place in January and February 2025. We will be sharing findings and recommendations in March 2025.
Get involved by sharing your story, completing a survey, or joining the conversation online. Your input will help shape a more vibrant and inclusive cultural landscape in Croydon. Contact Clem Akran at cakran@cottagefactory.co.uk to find out more.
The Pros and Cons of a Business Case Approach to Diversity Management
While championing diversity is undoubtedly the right thing to do, businesses often find themselves grappling with the tension between ethical considerations and the bottom line. Can a focus on diversity truly enhance a company's financial performance? This blog post delves into the complexities of the business case for diversity, exploring its potential benefits and drawbacks.
