06 Jun 2016
We meet many colourful characters at the Chamber. But one guy recently turned our heads as he arrived in his tartan Vivien Westwood coat and silver Doc Martens. We could tell pretty quickly that Mark Shayler, who keeps chickens and ducks in his Welsh garden, was a disruptive type.
Mark is the gregarious founder of the Do lectures and I’m delighted that he is the keynote speaker at Think Digital Scotland: When the Shift Hits the Fan, a forthcoming Glasgow Chamber event.
While he has worked with the likes of Nike, Samsung and Coca-Cola, he will be talking specifically about how Glasgow’s SMEs can meet the challenges of the disruptive digital economy.
He’s got a track record on this, supporting SMEs in saving around £120m. Mark is the author of Do, Disrupt: Change the status quo or become it.It’s been branded as a workbook that will help companies create ideas.
While disruption is now the norm and organisations from all industries need to rewire themselves to remain relevant, it is nothing for Glasgow business to fear. Indeed, most business people I speak to are willing to embrace digital change if they are given the right digital tools and the best infrastructure to compete.
Mark will be joined by some of Scotland’s most innovative business thinkers, all invited to ‘shake things up gently’.
The Chamber wants this to be a balanced event, looking at both the threats and the opportunities and I’m certain our members will find it fascinating.
The line-up is impressive, with Dominic Chalmers, from the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship at the University of Strathclyde, examining disruptors such as Uber and Airbnb.
There will also be several business case studies involving Charlie Smith, Director of Marketing at VisitScotland; Cyril Dyer, CEO of IDE-International, who has been working with Daniel MacIntyre, Senior Manager at Glasgow City Marketing Bureau on their Open Data Programme; Alec Farmer, Founder of Trakke; Richard Clifford, Executive Director of MakLab; Gillian Docherty, Chief Executive of The Data Lab, and Andrew Nicolson, Founder of WhiskyBlender.
I’m delighted that CityFibre will be supporting the event. CityFibre builds, designs and operates pure-fibre networksacross the UK. Without the digital infrastructure none of what we're discussing would be possible. I would also like to acknowledge the support of The Data Lab, IDE-International and VisitScotland. It should be a provocative and productive day.
Think Digital Scotland: When the Shift Hits the Fan: Navigating the Scottish Economy take places on Tuesday June 21, 9am-3:30pm, at the Technology & Innovation Centre at University of Strathclyde, 99 George Street, Glasgow.
