For many, connecting to enterprise applications remotely has become part of everyday working life. The ability to “just connect” to any app, from any device, anywhere, and at any time, is the foundation of great user experience. In partnership with leading cloud security company, Zscaler, members explored the impact of ubiquitous connectivity on security, and how security strategy must evolve to enhance the user experience.

Before the coronavirus pandemic struck, transport companies were each carving out a path to data maturity. Today, this journey has accelerated, with an unprecedented collapse in passenger numbers forcing a shift in strategy and speed of delivery. Data leaders across road, rail and air convened virtually to explore the findings of new research by Cognizant and MuleSoft, in partnership with Nimbus Ninety, that explores what is driving data strategy across the UK transport sector.

Building a digital business that harnesses the massive potential of data, requires a new approach to infrastructure. Yet, adopting the right cloud strategy and delivering data innovation is highly complex. IT leaders convened for virtual breakfast in partnership with Equinix, to share experiences and discuss how to unleash infrastructure innovation.

When society is shifting, how do you identify short-term consumer trends versus the lasting impacts? That’s the key question facing insight and product innovation teams navigating these turbulent times. Nimbus Ninety members leading CPG teams convened virtually, to explore how social data can yield answers.

The gradual reshaping of office life has been underway for some time, but the shift to remote work witnessed globally in the past few months has unleashed a fundamental rethink of what the office is for. Members convened for a fascinating virtual breakfast in partnership with Zscaler, to discuss how to adapt culturally and technically to this new world.

Automation has always been with us. 200 years ago, on average half of the labour force in Europe was working the land.1 Today, this number is about 5%. Looking for the opportunities to automate has carried us into modernity - and it is nothing to fear.

How best to respond to rapidly shifting priorities is a theme occupying all our minds at this time of worldwide disruption to social and economic realities. In the midst of a global pandemic, digital capabilities are proving fundamental. Maximum agility is required to cope with the current landscape, and this has implications for IT strategy and the infrastructure that underpins it.

With 6 weeks to go until IGNITE opens its doors, an array of sectors are registering to explore the impact of The Connected Society. AI is making waves through different industries at different paces, with some organisations getting their data in order and taking advantage of these technologies much faster than their peers.

Connecting citizens and automating urban environments has been a fascinating area for technology development over the last few years. I caught up with Simon Giles, Accenture’s leading expert on Digital Cities, to discuss the latest on ‘smart cities’ and get his opinion on the disruptive potential of autonomous transport.

What makes us human? What is the nature of work? How is technology altering our experience of the world? It’s rare that an IGNITE event would make us consider life’s deeper questions. But in September, that’s exactly what we’ll be encouraging - as the community convenes at IGNITE to put automation and AI under the microscope.