Individuals and organisations from across Jersey, have come together to help formulate a cohesive action plan to build a digital Jersey.
The two-day workshop event saw attendees from private and public sector companies, as well as education and government, recognising that everyone has to work together in order to make the most of digital opportunities.
The event, organised by Digital Jersey and based on its five-year strategy, saw international speakers recognise and challenge Jersey’s unique offering.
Alan Brown, Professor in Digital Economy, University of Exeter Business School, facilitated the workshop, and highlighted the collaborative and connected nature of Jersey’s ecosystem and the need to work together to harness that: “There are very few situations where you can bring this collection of people together, this set of skills and interests, and that’s been extraordinary here.”
One of the challenges, highlighted by the workshop, was the balance of views between protecting Jersey’s heritage and the rate of change. There were fears expressed that the stability of Jersey’s way of life needs to be protected and caution should be employed in the pace of change in case it disrupts our values. However, other attendees said we have to change and change rapidly, to ensure we can generate the revenues required to maintain that quality of life.
Tony Moretta, CEO Digital Jersey commented: ‘The truth of it is that we don’t have a choice about change. The world is becoming more digital whether we like it or not. The only choice we have is how successful we want to be in that world.
“Digital doesn’t threaten our way of life, our values, or what is unique about Jersey, it protects it. It is being used in agriculture, tourism, finance, and in every one of our homes. It isn’t some separate ‘necessary evil’ that is being inflicted on our Island, it is a tool that benefits every one of us.”
The Digital Jersey strategy was created to be intentionally ambitious because it is aimed at not only ensuring the Island can compete, but showing that being small doesn’t hold the Island back, and creates opportunity through speed and agility. One of those opportunities was highlighted by Dame Wendy Hall, Regius Professor of Computer Science and Executive Director of The Web Science Institute, University of Southampton.
Dame Wendy said: “The issues around data stewardship are the most important things to get right. You could lead the world on showing how these things work, but it means taking a bit of a risk and putting everybody’s efforts behind it. You’ve got the infrastructure, for heaven’s sake. We don’t in the UK.”
International speakers attending the workshop either in person or virtually, also included:
- Andy Stanford-Clark, Chief Technology Officer, IBM
- Phil Male, Chair of JT
- Jacqueline de Rojas, President @techUK and @digileaders, Co-Chair Institute of Coding
- Stephen Blackman, Principal Economist, Natwest Group
- Radhika Chadwick, Partner McKinsey Public Sector Practice
- Siim Sikkut, Chief Information Officer, Republic of Estonia
- Dave Birch, Jersey’s Fintech Ambassador.
Click here to read the full five-year Digital Jersey Strategic Plan.
