DIGITAL SOLUTIONS @ UCS

Friday Focus: Creating a VLE to Support your Staff

2020-06-05T15:34:00.000+01:00

This week's Friday Focus explored how to create a VLE to support and develop your staff, it also gave great insights into how VLE and adult learning work, so if you missed it, take a look below. The notes for this session are available here.

Paul gave some great insights into how and why we should use a VLE system, but here are some bonus tips to help you even further!
1) Think multimedia
A key issue you may find with a VLE is engagement from those using the courses, so use multimedia options like sound and video to help keep those training involved.
2) Testing
Get someone else to test out your modules. A third party is always a great insight to make sure your message is being delivered. Try find someone who has minimal knowledge on the chosen subject, then this will give a good impression of how those using the product will find it.
3) Consider your Audience
Keep your audience in mind when writing the content, make sure examples or references you make are relevant and understandable to those using your service.

This may be less tips than usual but Paul gave so many insights in the actual stream that we don't want to repeat things! Next week we will be doing a summary stream of questions so far, a great opportunity if you have any questions!

Friday Focus: Getting Started with Video Editing

2020-05-29T12:15:00.000+01:00

This Friday we looked at Getting Started with Video Editing, our notes for the session are available here and the session is included below.

Here are our additional tips to consider when you start editing videos.
1. Storyboard
Some people just like to get stuck straight in and make it work, but if you've made a storyboard at first, you have a plan of where you are going which will make your life easier wen trying to piece together your clips.
2. The Right Tools
Linking back to storyboarding, if you know what you want from your video make sure you have the right tool to edit. If you know you need to create a video with text then make sure your editing software does text! This will save you time later, rather than end up putting your files through multiple software and wasting time exporting over and over again!
3. Know Your Limits
Video editing is a skill that will take time to grow! You also need to consider your computer limits, a basic computer isn't going to handle multiple 4K video files with multiple layers! Just start simple and grow from there. For most businesses a simple video with text and transition will be all you need!
4. Understand Exporting
This can seem complicated but having a basic understanding of your exporting options will help you in the long run. A video file for YouTube need's to be different to one you'd use on a TV. Luckily there are great explanations online if you want to know what settings you'd need for your purpose.
5. Experiment
So slight contradiction of the first point but have a play and an experiment! Video editing is a skill and takes time and practise to perfect. If you don't explore your software and try different techniques you'll never learn more! So experiment as you never know what you'll find.

Next week we will be looking at supporting staff with a VLE system! Something we help a lot of businesses sort so excited to share some knowledge with you. See you next week.

Friday Focus: Getting Started With Podcasting

2020-05-22T15:04:00.001+01:00

This week on Friday Focus we took a look at some basics to get you and your business started on podcasting. It's a great way to add another layer to your online branding, and can be fun and easy to do! The notes for this stream are available here and below is the catch up for the stream.

Feeling inspired to get stuck in, well then, here are some tips and advice for starting a podcast.
1. Know Your Topic.
Your podcast should be on something you are knowledgeable on and also enjoy. Those listening will be able to hear it in if you're not and that won't build the audience's trust and they probably won't return.
2. Get The Appropriate Gear.
To be clear, we are not suggesting go out and spend £100s on microphones and mixing desks, but have the right equipment for you. We looked at Anchor during the stream, maybe you want to invest in a better microphone to improve sound quality that the one you have in your phone. Sound quality and ease is important, therefore having the appropriate equipment is key. Maybe down the line you will want to invest in more advanced, expensive products but for now, just ensure you have appropriate, decent basic equipment.
3. Plan Your Format.
Your format needs to run between every podcast, think of it as another type of branding. Your listeners will expect to here A,B and C every week. Even the podcasts that seem like just a casual chat will have some form of planning behind them.
4. Consistency.
Similar to plan your format, but consistency is important particularly with time. Though there's no rule to how long a podcast should be, try keep your podcasts a similar length. If I know the episodes are normally 30 minutes long, then I can listen to that on my 35 minute commute. You suddenly post an episode 45 minutes then suddenly I don't have time to listen to the whole thing. This can cause annoyance to your listeners.
5. Have Fun.
If you are having it'll come across to your viewers. This is your podcast so have fun talking about a topic you're passionate about this could be anything from sports to sandwiches. Those listening what to hear about the topic so make sure you are passionate! There's no point doing a podcast based on what you think people want to hear on a topic, deliver the message you want people to hear. Have fun with whatever your subject is!

So these are some extra tips for your podcasting journey, do you think you'll get started after our stream? Let us know so we can listen in!

Next week's stream on the 29th will be Getting Started With Video Editting, another really great tool for your business to adapt. See you next week!

5 Wellness Apps to Help your Well Being whilst Working Remotely

2020-05-21T15:01:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, as part of National Mental Health Awareness Week, we looked at some tips to help whilst you work from home. Today we are looking at 5 wellness apps to utilise, though you are more than welcome to use these when you return to the real world!

1. Calm

This is an app to use when feeling stressed. Calm approaches stress using the 360 degree concept. It can help to calm a mind using meditation, help the individual sleep and acquire the skills and tools to help your own mindfulness. The app also includes audio session taught by mindful experts. A great app if you're starting on your mindful journey and want some of everything.
2.Headspace
Focusing again on meditation to help the mind, Headspace comes with celebrity endorsements from Gwyneth Paltrow and Emma Watson. The app encourages the user to do a 10 minute exercise with the app a day to help aid mood, attention span and alertness. It also offers sessions for sleeping, exercise and day to day activities such as cooking.
3. My Possible Self
My Possible Self is a great tool for tracking where you currently are mentally and where you would like to be. The app has been featured in the NHS App Gallery and has been clinically proven to help aid stress and anxiety. The app is goal driven, but not competitive, but teaches you to cope with changes and issues in your life.
4. Happify
This app uses science based activities and games to try change your negative habits for positive ones. The app doesn't take itself to seriously and really focuses on optimism to motivate the user to complete the tasks and boost their happiness score.
5.Sleepio
A good nights sleep can really help your wellbeing, but also a struggle to do so when we are suffering from stress and anxiety! Sleepio was designed to help those with insomnia but also includes wellness features. The app is modelled after CBT practises and using the apps sleep diary can help the user improve their sleep patterns.

What are some wellness apps you would recommend? Have you started to use anymore since the lockdown began? There's so many more out there than what we mentioned, do some research into what you want and hopefully aid your well being.

Looking After Your Mental Health Whilst Working Remotely

2020-05-20T16:23:00.000+01:00

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week and we thought this would be a great opportunity to discuss mental health whilst working remotely. As many of you may be finding that working from home brings a new range of challenges to the individual, with the effects mentally being on one them. So here are some tips try help you whilst working from home.

1. Set a routine.
Without clear time constraints it's easy for a day to seem overwhelming and the lines between work and home life become blurred. Set yourself a routine for each day so your body gets used to the routine. You could even match this to your typical going to work timings and use the commute time to read a book or exercise.
2. Take breaks.
Taking breaks can boost your productivity! But it's also important that we just 5-10 minutes to stretch our legs, take a break from the screen and just relax our mind. Even better for go for a walk and run to really relax and disconnect.
3. Socialise.
You may feel alone but the likely hood is everyone else in your team also is so reach out to catch ups or organise work socials. There are also lots of virtual networking events, a good way to see some other human faces and who knows what opportunities you may discover.
4. Dedicated work space.
This isn't possible for everyone and we know some days just working on the sofa seems like the best option but try and have a space for working. Over time your brain will relate this area to work and being productive. Then once you are out of this space, you know it's time to relax.
5. Switch off
It is so important to make sure you do switch off at the end of the day. A work and home life balance can he hard to strike when they are both happening in the same place. The previous mentioned points of a schedule and work space can help separate the two but you need to resist the email check past your working hours. Give yourself the time to relax and recharge before the next day.

The last point and possibly most important is to be kind to yourself. We will all have bad days, just focus on things will get better and we all have days where we don't feel like we are coping. Just know you're not alone and we will all get through this.

Friday Focus: Creating a Web Based App Without Code

2020-05-15T14:08:00.000+01:00

This Friday we looked at creating a web based app using the program Glide. The useful perk of this platform is that requires no coding knowledge, just basic understanding of using a spreadsheet. You can read the notes for this session here and the catch up of the stream is below.

Now here are some of our top tips for using Glide to make an app for your business:
1. Utilise the templates. For some diving in head first may work, but if you want to have a play, Glide has some great pre built apps ready for you to populate.
2. Experiment. Unless you try you never know! Glide has a diverse rang of tools to use, you may end up using something you never thought of.
3. Test! Make sure you test as we go, although there is a lot less room for errors than coding a whole app, we all make mistakes. Luckily Glide does update in real time so if something does go wrong even when your app is live, it's quick fix.

We hope we will see you again next Friday where we will be looking at getting started with podcasts!

Friday Focus: Training and Supporting with Technology

2020-05-01T14:09:00.000+01:00

This week's stream focused on ways we can support and train others whilst we work remotely. Although a necessary tool whilst we are in lockdown, this is a fantastic tool to know when working remotely. The notes for the session are here and the stream is included below!

In the stream we looked at using Chrome Remote Desktop as the tool we demonstrated, so this week's top tips will be for training and supporting others with technology as remotely we know it can be a difficult task!
1. Motivate. A key part of training is to motivate the person being trained, they need a reason as to why learning this new programme or whatever is useful for them. People do not want their time wasted and need justification of why this is a good use of their time.
2. Communicate. Despite demonstrating on someone's screen, they still need clear, concise communication as you would if training person. Likewise make sure the person you are showing, communicates back, the signs of someone being confused are harder to see virtually.
3. Understand Learning Styles. A live demonstration may not be the most useful tool for training for all your team. People learn in different ways so this may not be effective for everyone. If someone is struggling you could type them up bullet point instructions or send a screencast they can rewatch. Everyone is different.
4. Feedback. It is important to receive feedback to make sure the software you are trying to implement is suitable for your team. Without discussion you will be unable to either help train someone further to help fix the issue or having, or even realise maybe the software wasn't suitable. Whilst in lockdown having effective and suitable tools in place is key, and just because something works for you, does not mean it does for everyone else.
5. Group sessions. If possible, teach everyone as a group. This can sometimes aid questions other's wont think of at the time, as well as demonstrate who has a clearer understanding and can assist others when having issues. This could be done on software like Microsoft Teams, where during a group call the trainer can broadcast their screen.

Since lockdown many businesses have had to adapt quickly into using digital platforms to help their business, that doesn't mean your team can't become an expert in it and still use it after the lockdown.

Due to the bank holiday next week, our next stream is on the 15th May, and we shall be focusing on creating web based apps using Glide. If you cannot wait two week, we have previously done a similar talk which you can view here. See you in two weeks!

Friday Focus: Effective Digital Communication

2020-04-24T14:09:00.001+01:00

Another Friday and another Friday Focus. This week we were focusing on Effective Digital Communication. If you didn't manage to watch our stream you can watch it below and here are the notes for this session.

As we used Discord as an example platform this week, our top tips are going to be focused around that. It's a really useful tool that is being utilised by work places and digital communities a like so a tool worth an explore. Here are our top tips for using Discord:

1) Active your Keybinds. We are all familar with keyboard shortcuts like CTRL+C for copy, but some tools, including Discord, allow you to set your own shortcuts. This can be used for really useful tools, such as a push to mute/talk key when in voice chat to quickly mute your mike in a chat.
2) In app audio settings. We aren't all blessed with a quality microphone, fortunately Discord has some tools that can improve your sound! The only negative is that you cannot hear your sound yourself so it'll be a team effort to get your sound right but a really great setting from the app.
3) Using the pager. This obviously is inspired by the now outdated pager, and as you'd expect it allows you send direct notifications to those in a chat or even to a direct user. Great for when you need to send out an important update or need a response.
4) Use typographical emphasis. Sometimes a word just needs to be bold to really drive home a point. Fortunately you can! Discord allows for bold, italics, underlined and strike through formatting of your text. You simply put * * around what you want to be bold and it's done. You can find a full list of options on the support page.
5) Control your notifications. Discord is used by so many communities and if you are in multiple servers, the notifications and become overwhelming. Particularly in larger groups, that can be a lot of messages! Fortunately you are able to mute servers so you aren't drowning in them every time you log in! Also great if you want to turn off notifications of a work chat when not working to be able to relax.

Will you be looking at Discord for your business? What other tools are you considering from our stream? We will see you next Friday for our Friday Focus which is going to explore Supporting and Training Others with Technology and specifically using Chrome Remote Desktop. See you Friday!

Friday Focus: Digitally Collaborating on Documents with Google Drive

2020-04-17T14:44:00.000+01:00

Another Friday which means another Friday Focus. This week we were looking at ways to work collaboratively with your team whilst working remotely. A really valuable and practical tool to use both now and once we return to normal. Stream is below and if you would like the notes, here they are.

Now you're up to date, here's our 5 top tips for using Google Drive:

Google Drive has the capabilities of converting text from PDFs and images straight into a document file, so useful and time saving compared to retyping it all!
You can save time bu turning on email notifications when someone had edited a document. No more checking just in case someone has done some work.
If there are multiple people using a document at once, you can use the built in chat feature to discuss options. This is great for simple queries like does this make sense or what do you think of this font choice?
Google Drive allows for colour coding items, so to use our project as an example we could colour code each business we support for quick and easy access to each businesses files.
Take advantage of ownership levels. Sometimes a document doesn't need editing, just a second opinion. There are 4 levels of ownership on Google Drive: Owners, Editors, Commenters or Viewers. You can invite colleagues and give them as much editing abilities as you like.

So those are our 5 tips for Google Drive. Next week we will be focusing on digital communication. Definitely not one to be missed!

Friday Focus: Using Trello to Keep Your Team on Track

2020-04-03T13:37:00.000+01:00

This week's Friday Focus saw us looking at how Trello can be used to help keep yourself or your team on track and goal driven. Think of it as the virtual equivalent of sticking to do post its too your screen, just more efficient and less waste! If you missed our stream you can view it at www.digitalucs.co.uk/live (as well as our other Friday Focus streams) but it is also embed below:

You can find the accompanying notes here.

So now that you're up to date, here our are top tips to utilise Trello:

Keep it simple. If you over complicate a board, it isn't going to quick to see what you need to do. This is key for both an individual board or a group board. If it's not kept clear and simple, a Trello board can quickly become an overwhelming nightmare! Better to have multiple boards than cram too much into one.
Use comments. If multiple members of a team are using a board to complete tasks together, make sure you use the comments option. This will save time having to chase up why something has changed or why something has been done in a certain way. It allows for that quick conversation you would have in the office which doesn't seem worth an email! It's also a great way as an individual to keep a report of when you are doing specific tasks.
Learn the keyboard shortcuts. Trello has numerous ways to make your experience as productive as possible, one thing people miss out on is using keyboard shortcuts. We will let you explore these on your own time as there are a lot but one definitely worth noting is pressing "q" will filter the cards to show just what is assigned to the logged in individual! So much easier to focus on your own task than a sea of cards for everyone.
Keep it updated. We all know how annoying it can be when you're in a good work flow and someone pesters you for a task you know you've done, but did you mark it as complete on Trello? It's not just about keeping track of yourself, by updating the board, other's will know where you are up to and the time used emailing can then be used productively.
Turn emails into cards. Every Trello board has an email address allowing the user to forward an email to the board rather than copying and pasting the same information. Likewise each card has an email too, forward an email to that and it becomes a comment on the card (perfect for tip 2!). This can be a great time saver.

Trello is a great tool, making sure you work smarter, not harder. However it is as only as good as you make it, we all have our own practises when using Trello and now you'll be well on your way to maximise your productivity using it!

Our next stream will be 17th April (not the 10th as it is Easter Friday) and we will be exploring working collaboratively on documents using Google Drive. See you then!

Friday Focus: Utilising Free Video Conference Tools

2020-03-27T14:27:00.003+00:00

In case you missed our first exciting edition of "Friday Focus" please find it below, and here is the link to the notes.

It would be impossible for us to cover everything, and there's other platforms out there for your business to try but here are some top tips which you can apply to all video conferencing tools:

Consider your internet speed. We sadly are not all blessed with fibre internet and video conferencing needs a lot of your bandwidth. So, consider, do you need to show your face or will just voice work? You could also look at plugging in your laptop direct with a LAN cable. Disconnect other devices from the wifi, you don't need to be on your phone checking Facebook when business calls!
Have an agenda for the call. As we covered in our stream, some platforms give you a limited amount of time in their free versions. With an agenda there's no excuse to get cut off! With everyone at home, surrounded by their own distractions, it's very easy to go on a tangent so stay on message to ensure the most effective use of everyone's time.
Elect a chair for the call. We don't mean find somewhere comfy! As it's so easy to get distracted have someone who chairs the call, the same way they would chair an actual meeting. This helps you stay on message, it also is a good way to police the call and help everyone be heard.
Have patience and don't interrupt. One of the key struggles people have is waiting their turn to speak, we all struggle with it so don't feel bad, but just be mindful and let everyone have their turn. Using the tip of having a chair above, hopefully everyone will have their turn to speak and time for questions and queries we be made. Don't be afraid to ask to return to a point so you can get your point across.
Location. We appreciate that whilst on lockdown the choices for locations are limited! However do your best to be in a room by yourself and as quiet as possible. Having your dog interrupt the call doing something cute is only tolerable so many times! Think about the potential background noises and distractions around you and do your best to isolate them. The less distractions the easier the call will go and the faster you can go back to doing your work!

If you are interested in our next stream, it'll be on Friday 3rd April at 1pm and we will be covering using Trello to Keep Track of Team Tasks. You can view it on www.digitalucs.co.uk/live or head to our Facebook page to view direct. Give us a like to be notified when we are going live. You can also find the schedule for the upcoming streams on our website. What are your top tips for video conferencing?

Tools for Boosting Your Productivity Whilst Working From Home

2020-03-13T14:36:00.000+00:00

With all going on in the world at present, we thought it was high time we highlighted some great tools and platforms to use when working remote. To some businesses this a new idea for their own business, where others this is a day to day occurrence already! Whatever your circumstance, we wanted to highlight some platforms we think could assist your working remotely journey.

Zoom

Zoom is a video conferencing app which is a perfect solution for holding meetings for your team from your own home. Available web and app based, as well as both Windows and Mac friendly so there is no excuse to not be able to join in! The basics of Zoom are free, and for most SMEs they will be more than enough! The main limit you will face is the 40 minute limit to group meetings, so keep the agenda concise, or if you are feeling like investing in Zoom for your business the next value package is £11.99 a month which grants you a limit of a 24 hour meeting! However the free package does come with plenty of exciting and useful features, including web conferencing, Chrome plugins and scheduling. You'll be wondering why you didn't meet virtually, sooner!

Google Hangouts

Although not a purposefully designed workplace app. it could definitely be utilised by your team for simple catch ups and meetings. The app is free, but video calls are maxed at 10 people, but could be a great tool for a SME, especially if you already utilise the other productive boosting Google tools, why not have everything in one place! You can even schedule meetings, direct, into your Google Calendar.

Trello

Beloved by some already, Trello is a great way to keep yourself on track or keep a team focussed with a board between you all. Trello is the equivalent of todo post it note stuck to your monitor, just virtual and less trips to the bin. Create a board based on your project, break it down to a to do list, colour code items and tick them off as you can go. You could have a board as an individual or add members of the team and make a group board, and see everyone tick their work off and make sure everyone is staying on track. Trello also allows use of Power-Ups, such as Expiration Reminders. It also can be compatible with file storage like Google Drive and Dropbox, making it an invaluable tool when working remotely.

Slack

Slack is a great multi purpose tool, and for those working as an individual or a minimal team then the free plan could be a great fit for you. The paid plans (starting at £5.25 a month) would be a better fit for a larger team due to the limits in access, but Slack has so many features that makes that investment worthwhile. Slack can be utilised in multiple ways, including message boards, file storage and video calling. Even on the free plan, you can integrate up to 10 other apps (unlimited on paid plans), including Google Drive and Office 365. Slack, for some, has become a one stop shop to streamline team work with messaging, filesharing and tools like a workflow building, it could be the perfect fit your business.

Google Drive

Google Drive is a great choice for your cloud based storage, making your files accessible anywhere and everywhere, but Google Drive has the added bonus that multiple people can access and edit a document at once, allowing for collaboration on work even when not in the same room. This works across Windows, Macs and even mobile devices! The free version comes with 15GB of storage, though paid options are available. There is also the G Suite plans, which can incorporate multiple of the helpful tools from Google so could be a route for you if it suits.

Asana

Asana another project and task manager but attempting to create an office environment when working remotely on their platform. The free package allows you to create tasks, work boards, assign work and due dates of up to 15 people in your team. However the premium packages (starting at £9.49) allow for some really helpful tools, such as dependency of tasks, automated rules and even build a portfolio from the work done on Asana. If you are managing a team it has some interesting capabilities like Workload Tracking to make sure certain people aren't overloaded with tasks or others are keeping on top of their work. In addition to the team chat, Asana has Task Comments, so if someone needs clarification on something or just a quick question, you ask on the task rather than in the group chat. Similar to how you could just ask the person a question across the office if in person. Asana also has app compatibility so can work alongside a multitude of platforms to get the most out of working remotely.

Serene

With Serene you set your time table and set what you can and cannot do during those times. Too tempted by Facebook? Then set it to be blocked during a work session so even if you give in to procrastination, it is quickly stopped! Setting "Work Sessions" allows you to set yourself a task, a length between 20-60 minutes and everything you have blocked is unusable until the session has completed. This then allows you short breaks between tasks, to supposedly aid productivity. It is currently only available for Macs but Windows compatibility is coming soon.

Daywise

An app to stop work! When working remotely, the lines between work life balance can become blurred so apps like Daywise are so important. Daywise allows you to control when you receive notifications for certain apps, so out of hours you won't be tempted to check every time you are notified a new work email has come through. This can be even used to stop clients from calling out of work hours! It is currently only available on Android.

Second Life
If you are really looking to get experimental with your options to work remote, why not look at virtual reality! Second Life allows you to build a virtual space (could be your office or could be the zoo, that's the fun!) and allows users to join as their own virtual person, then host your business meetings in the space. Unless you are willing to buy space it will be public so you may have some meeting crashers, but buying "Private Property" is an option if you're really committed to utilising Second Life! We are not saying VR is the work remote choice for all, but unless you try, can you rule it out?

Every business has different need and only you will know what will work for your businesses and optimise productivity! Some of these may not work for you and there are so many other great tools to try and test out there. There are so many potential platforms for you, most you wouldn't have even thought of! We do hope that this gives you a good starting point when delving into the world of working remotely. If you have any recommendations, or any tips or tricks for working remotely, please let us know below!

Useful Business Information Covid-19

2020-03-13T14:35:00.002+00:00

As a project supporting businesses, it is crucial we pay attention to the developing situations facing businesses and currently a large concern for businesses in COVID-19. We thought it would be useful to provide some links from official sources to gain information. As this is an ever developing situation, we recommend businesses check for updates on a regular basis on .GOV.UK but here are some useful links below:

Update (24/03/2020): New guidance in regards to the lock down in the UK

Further Information:

As previously said, this is a developing and ongoing situation so stay up to date and stay safe!

South Shropshire Chamber - Paul Andrews "Creating Apps With No Code"

2020-03-06T14:50:00.000+00:00

Shropshire Chamber recently relaunched themselves in South Shropshire, starting with a networking breakfast at the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre. Digital Solutions were fortunate enough to be invited to talk at the event. This is Paul Andrews, our Lead Research Fellow, delivering a talk on "Creating Apps Without Code" utilising Glide. Paul creates a basic app for a randomly selected business live in the room to demonstrate the ease and capabilities of Glide. Watch the talk below and if you are interested in the notes to follow along head to our website.

DING #3 - Alex Whittles "The Evolution of Machine Learning"

2020-02-20T16:14:00.000+00:00

12th February saw the third Digital Innovation Networking Group at University Centre Shrewsbury. Despite some logistical issues due to flooding and poor weather, we still had a great turn out but most excitingly we had Alex Whittles from Purple Frog do an excellent talk on Machine Learning. Incorporating into Darwin Week, the talk focussed on The Evolution of Machine Learning. If you couldn't make it and want to listen to the talk then look no further:

If you are interested in the next DING event, DING#4 will be happening June 10th, get your tickets here.

Let's Do Business In....

2019-11-15T08:59:00.000+00:00

Did you know that the Growth Hub, Shropshire and the University Centre Shrewsbury (UCS) are on tour across Shropshire? Why not come along to one of the libraries near you and have a chat about your business – no matter what stage you’re at.

Want to find out about funding opportunities, training courses and which projects may be able to support you? There will also be representatives there from the Digital Solutions project, CREST project and Building Skills & Growth Capacity Project – all located at UCS.

After talking to businesses, it became very clear that you wanted more access to this type of information and you wanted access to everything in one place. We listened, and that is what we’ve done! With the continued support from Shropshire Libraries and especially, their Library Development Manager, Mirka Duxberry, they have given us access to their libraries so we can come out to you as opposed to you having to travel to us! Outreach is a priority.

We wanted to give you an overview of what will be on offer so if you’re available, please do pop along, have an informal chat with some tea and cake and find out more about what kind of Business Support is out there.

Marches Growth Hub, Shropshire

The Marches Growth Hub is the gateway for business support provision in Shropshire. It acts as a “one stop shop” for all businesses, offering access to all types of business support; for start-ups, early stage and growth.

Whether you are a start-up or growing business, we are here to help you navigate the business support maze, signposting to relevant advice, information, and access to finance – to find the package of support that is right for your business.

Are you ready to start talking business over coffee and cake? Come and meet Emma Chapman / Anna Sadler on tour with the Marches Growth Hub. “We will be offering face to face advice on business grants, loans and support available for Shropshire businesses regardless of size or sector, from pre-start to established businesses.”

Have you signed up to register for our e-newsletters? www.shropshire.gov.uk/subscribe

Digital Solutions Project

The Let’s Do Business events being held at Shropshire Libraries have been a great success to not only promote our Digital Solutions project but more importantly, for supporting local businesses.

Business Development Managers, Nikki Ayton and Sarah Bennett said, “We can support businesses to innovate using digital technology within their business processes or to develop new products and services. Although we can offer support to every sector, there is a particular emphasis on digital health. We are also promoting our “Digital Innovation Networking Group” (DING) event held at the University Centre on 12^th February.

The libraries are a great venue to meet local businesses looking for funded support (which is free to the business) and we are very excited about the opportunity of working more closely with them to provide access to our ERDF funded Digital Solutions project. Eligible businesses based in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin can benefit from these collaborations. We’re looking forward to the next one!”

Here are a few extracts from some of our feedback:

Not only have I been incredibly grateful for your support but I have been evangelical about your team when dealing with other businesses across Shropshire as I believe that you and your team are a valuable resource and could help many other businesses. Thank you for everything you have done.
A Business Development Manager with empathy, enthusiasm and a deep understanding for my needs as client.
Client service is second to none!
Highly recommendable!
Invaluable support during the various stages of my digital business support. Quick and energetic responses combined with profound knowledge and expertise in all things digital has made me feel at ease on making an apparent business critical decisions

CREST

The Centre for Research into Environmental Science and Technology (CREST@UCS) is a £1.2M European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) project offering support to SMEs and start-ups. This is done by addressing their productivity challenges and looking at ways to increase their competitivity. Our multi-disciplinary team of experts works closely with SMEs to design, develop and bring new products and services to market; develop processes to save time and/or money; understand markets (e.g. market research, introduction to buyers and suppliers, exploring new markets) and develop successful business models.

What we Offer:

Business innovation support, including developing ideas for market readiness and developing new products/services that benefit the environment and reduce waste
Support with funding applications
Speciality laboratory research, focusing on water, soil and anaerobic digestion
Mapping, remote sensing and geospatial analysis
Waste and resource assessments
Support for companies wanting to reduce their environmental impac

Building Skills & Growth Capacity Project

University Centre Shrewsbury (UCS) has received £235,000 in funding from the European Social Fund (ESF) and £156,000 in matching funds from the University of Chester to help Shropshire SMEs train and upskill their employees

The Project has been funded through European Social Fund (ESF) as a Priority 2.2 project improving the labour market relevance of education and training systems until September 2020. The project will focus on supporting the growth of SMEs and Micro businesses in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin through ensuring that they can identify and access the skills development options that align with and unlock their growth.

The project will offer flexible support options that can react to business need, acknowledging that SMEs and micro businesses require different solutions, and that smaller businesses need support to understand complexities and changes within the skills environment.

The project will focus on delivering an in-depth training needs analysis to SME’s to identify skills requirement for both now and in the future. This could be in the form of short bespoke courses, Higher level apprenticeships or HE student placements, If lower level skills and apprenticeships are identified the University will act as a brokerage service to other colleges and training providers.

The next Let's Do Business In... is happening on the 5th December at Ellesmere Library.

Twitter To Ban All Politicial Ads

2019-10-31T13:02:00.000+00:00

Twitter, in a interesting move, have announced that they will be banning all political based adverts from the site. This is coming shortly after Facebook have come under fire for saying they would not block political ads despite the potential of ads declaring false information.

Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, tweeted “We’ve made the decision to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally. We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought.”. This will come into effect on the 22^nd November, globally banning ads of a political nature. This will mean Twitter will not feature ads for the UK snap Election.

We’ve made the decision to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally. We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought. Why? A few reasons…🧵
— jack 🌍🌏🌎 (@jack) October 30, 2019

Dorsey went on to explain there reasons behind for it in a chain of tweets, saying that the organic spread of a political message should not be compromised by money. The current technological climate allows for misleading and even fake information to be spread and, although, Twitter already has rules and restrictions in place for their ads, they have perceived they still need to take stronger actions.

This comes shortly after Facebook came under criticism for allowing ads to be published without third party fact checking, allowing misleading and ungrounded political targeted ads to run. Mark Zuckerberg defended this by saying his company would prefer to "err on the side of greater expression" as without advertising on social media platforms it could aid to the favouring of certain politicians who are heavily covered in other forms of media. Facebook have already been criticised for allowing the Re-Elect Trump 2020 campaign to run a video with an unproven conspiracy theory surrounding Joe Biden and his son.

Dorsey evidently believes this stance isn’t enough, tweeting “For instance, it’s not credible for us to say “We’re working hard to stop people from gaming our systems to spread misleading info, buuut if someone pays us to target and force people to see their political ad… well… they can say whatever they want!“. Complete with wink face, many believe this is a intentional dig at Facebook.

For instance, it‘s not credible for us to say: “We’re working hard to stop people from gaming our systems to spread misleading info, buuut if someone pays us to target and force people to see their political ad…well...they can say whatever they want! 😉”
— jack 🌍🌏🌎 (@jack) October 30, 2019

This announcement seems to have had a widely positive reaction, including Hilary Clinton tweeting “This is the right thing to do for democracy in America and all over the world. What say you, Facebook?”. Following the announcement, #BanFacebookAds was trending on Twitter. Twitter seems to be attempting to pave the way for a fairer and equal battle for politics, BBC Political Editor Laura Kuenssburg stated “ lot of political content is produced in the hope it gets shared for free, rather than being ever paid for.”. However, some are viewing it as an attack on freedom of expression and unfair to censor politicians and the ads they chose to run.

What do you think? Is Twitter correct in their attempt to make a level playing field or should Facebook stick with their current stance. With Twitter having a smaller number of active users, September reporting a 126 million users for Twitter versus 1.92 billion on Facebook, will it even make a difference? Which ever view you take, it will be interesting to see how this will change the representation of the UK snap Election who’s social media campaigns are just getting under way.

Introduction

2019-10-31T12:37:00.000+00:00

Welcome to the blog for Digital Solutions, based at University Centre Shrewsbury. A little about us? We are an ERDF funding project, providing digital innovation and support to B2B SMEs located in the Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin area. Utilising our own expertise, reaching out to the wider university and being supported by Marches Local Enterprise Partnership's Growth Plans, we support SMEs in their digital development.

So what can you expect from this blog? Here we want to be a blog for all the project supports, ranging from technology news, insights and tips for businesses as well as overviews of some of the companies we have assisted and how. If you are looking for how we can help you or just interested in technology developments then this is the right place to be!