Digital Transformation – implementing the next steps

Birgitta Schock is a long-term member and supporter of acumen7. We were lucky to hear from her at our November Monthly Meeting. 
 
Birgitta is currently leading on a digital transformation process for the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich that encompasses and promotes a human centric approach as a crucial element to ensure digital transformation success.

She is a Partner of the new BildDich.ch network – a network of professionals for professionals providing trainee and support to the construction and real estate industry.
 
Birgitta gave us an engaging and interactive talk, and acumen7 members responded well to her request for feedback on implementing the next steps.
 
It was great to see how much discussion the presentation generated. Members are encouraged to contact Birgitta directly to continue discussions.

The Design Lab Workshop

Thank you to The Design Lab’s Kevin Davies, Marina Jones & Gaby Frylinck for hosting the stimulating and fun interactive workshop at our first in-person meeting since May. The workshop focussed on websites, good & bad user experiences and the interactive session involved defining personas for acumen7 with a view to driving more traffic to our website. 

For more information on The Design Lab have a look at their website: https://www.thedesignlab.net/ 

Edumaker, a 3D print farm with a difference

At our July meeting, Managing Director of Edumaker, Alex Gibson , stepped into the breach at the last minute and gave us an interesting introduction into Edumaker – a 3D print farm with a difference – they can print large sizes, from parts that won’t fit on a desktop 3D printer, to parts over 2 cubic metres in volume. They print using renewable energy – much of which is generated on-site – and use primarily premium recycled materials. 

Alex shared his journey so far and the challenges he faces growing his business, including how to resource a start-up. This sparked some great conversations and feedback from members who have faced, or may face, the same challenges.

What did acumen7 do for me?

Mark Bew is a longstanding member of acumen7 and CEO of Cohesive, an international digital integrator delivering transformational outcomes across the built and natural environment.

Mark gave us a fascinating presentation about the advantages of being a member of acumen7, how that has helped him on his journey from running his own business to the merger with Cohesive, which has developed the first truly integrated approach for the management of critical assets and services.

For more information on The Cohesive Group, visit: https://cohesivegroup.com/

 

Measuring the sustainability of project outcomes

acumen7 member Warren Beardall shared the background to the PhD he is about to start at Leeds University during which he will explore whether sustainability can sit as a central project objective and benefit from united influence of project actors through the appropriate choices of project control. Approaching a PhD mid-way through his career, Warren is well placed to undertake this research, as he has 25 years of industry experience within the PFI sample space, a career focused on project risk and control, a recent MSc distinction in Project Management and is currently embarking on a second MSc in Psychology.

To see more from Warren, visit: Warren Beardall – projects | within projects (projectswithinprojects.blog)

 

Economic and financial market outlook

Some fascinating insights from Marc Hendriks kicked off acumen7’s June meeting. Marc shared a macroeconomic outlook of the financial markets, and the causes of UK and global inflation. Marc also spoke about why he decided to launch a start-up 18 months ago, GreenGrowth Investments and highlighted the challenges so far. Marc is the Co-Founder and CIO of GreenGrowth, which offers a pioneering investment app enabling retail investors to invest sustainably based on their lifestyle. GreenGrowth aims to make sustainability the new normal for investing, and allows everyday retail investors to participate by investing into these solutions, letting them have a positive impact and healthy financial returns.

For more information on GreenGrowth Investments, visit: Ethical Investment – GreenGrowth