CAKE 30

Space Place & Location Data

Our CAKE events celebrate and bring together a broad range of disciplines, expertise and knowledge to discuss current and emerging challenges and opportunities. CAKE 30 is a particularly good example of this – we will be exploring how place and location-based data increasingly impacts on how we go about our daily social and working lives and what this means for our communities. The event will focus on how data – smart, and at scale – is enabling new products and services, and new approaches to collaboration and understanding, helping to improve productivity, opportunity, resilience and wellbeing. CAKE 30 will explore what is currently happening across our region and beyond at the intersection of creativity, innovation and technology.

Come join us for an opportunity to learn about, explore, and discuss exciting innovations and new opportunities in place and location data across academic, business, and creative settings. And, of course, cake!

Speakers:

Roger Burrows, Professor of Cities, Newcastle University

Professor Roger Burrows is committed to interdisciplinary working across the arts, humanities and the social sciences but also has a keen interest in creative and social technologies. Roger is currently playing a leading role in various aspects of interdisciplinary development at Newcastle. Although physically based in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL) and Global Urban Research Unit (GURU) he also works in CURDS in the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology. He began this role at the beginning of 2016, moving back to Newcastle - where he had previously lived in the early 1990s - from London.

Roger’s academic background is in sociology, statistics and political economy but he has also worked in the fields of social policy and cultural studies. About one-half of his published outputs have been in the field of housing and urban studies with the rest being variously concerned with: consumption; digital technologies; health, illness and the body; migration; the use of metrics in higher education; social class and other inequalities; work and employment; and other topics. He is the author of some 140 articles, chapters, books and reports. His most recent book is The Predictive Postcode: The Geodemographics Classification of British Society (Sage, 2018), co-authored with Richard Webber, a visiting professor in SAPL.

Dr Graham Thrower, Head of Infrastructure & Investment, Urban Foresight

Graham’s interests and skills sit at the junction of institutional investment, infrastructure provision and progressive and sustainable economic development. He has considerable experience in creating new investment markets and developing long term strategic client partnerships, as well as delivering stakeholder value.

Graham is a hugely experienced executive who has held senior management roles within global financial institutions, including Citigroup and Societe Generale; and board-level positions in global investment, economic development and creative industry sectors, including with North East Access to Finance, Newcastle Science City and regional development agency One North East.

Graham holds a PhD in institutional investment markets for infrastructure from Newcastle University’s Centre for Urban & Regional Development Studies (CURDS). He is also Chairman of NEL Fund Managers and a trustee and non-executive director of the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art.

Nate Sterling, Design Strategist, Grid Smarter Cities

Nate is a hyperactive, playful catalyst who utilises service design thinking and design-led innovation practices to help organisations better understand, focus and act upon their innovation opportunities.

Nate’s academic background is in Industrial design and he holds a Masters in Multidisciplinary Design Innovation. Nate began his career as an Innovator-in-residence and Researcher (Creative Fuse NE) at Northumbria University. Through the “Get Ready to Innovate” programme, Nate assisted enterprises to assess their innovation capability and published research exploring how conflict can be used as catalyst within innovation challenges, and also led on the NEOne Creative innovation pilot, creating a tool for freelancers to better understand and articulate their needs.

Nate joined Grid Smarter Cities in Summer 2018 in the newly-created role of ‘Design Strategist’ and is responsible for: developing Grid’s design maturity and practices, facilitating a collaborative creative culture, conducting design research, modelling product/service opportunities, and visualising concepts.

Getting There:

Hope Street Xchange is easily accessible from Sunderland City Centre, postcode SR1 3QD (view on the map). As part of the University of Sunderland’s City Campus, the building is located on Hope Street and St Michael’s Way, just over the road from the Sunderland Empire theatre.

By Train or Metro:

Sunderland train station has regular connections to London and Newcastle. You can also easily reach Hope Street Xchange by Metro, closest stations are ‘University’ and ‘Park Lane’.

By Bus:

A number of buses operate in the Sunderland area, including the Sunderland Connect service which frequently serves Sunderland’s main attractions and destinations. Work out your best route using this handy journey planner from Go North East.

By Road:

Visitor car parking should be booked in advance. This is especially important to make sure that Hope Street Xchange can cater for any mobility issues you may have. Contact Hope Street Xchange to book a parking space for your visit.

About CAKE:

CAKE (Collaboration and Knowledge Exchange) is Creative Fuse North East's monthly networking event, bringing together businesses, freelancers, academics, charities and creative practitioners from across the Creative, Digital and IT sectors. Each themed CAKE event has expert speakers delivering short presentations that explore opportunities and innovation challenges. The events generate debate, explorative discussion and stimulate new innovative ideas by looking at each event’s theme from a variety of different perspectives – in keeping with the event name, attendees enjoy a slice of delicious cake while they network.

Is this event for you?

Whatever your professional background, this event is designed to support this potential by inspiring new conversations and allowing introductions to take place that will enable collaboration.