Welcome to my weekly South West Tech News roundup, where you can get all the headlines from the past week in one place.
What has our busy tech and digital community been up to this week? From award wins and innovative breakthroughs to unmissable events and capital raised, take a moment to reflect on the hive of daily activity taking place in our region.
If you have a story to share, wizz it over to shona@techspark.co – I look forward to hearing from you!
Neighbourly launches volunteer-driven initiative to bridge digital divide for small charities
Neighbourly, the giving platform which connects businesses with local charities and community groups across the UK and Ireland, has teamed up with Microsoft to launch a campaign to bring together corporate volunteers with the charitable sector, with the aim of helping to reduce admin burden and address the growing digital divide.
Through the DigitalBridge campaign, launching this month, charities and community groups in Neighbourly’s network, from youth charities to food banks, will be able to access support through Neighbourly’s corporate network, with volunteers from around twenty businesses including Virgin Media O2, Hays, Overbury and Morgan Lovell, Motability and Redcliffe & Temple BID helping charities with a range of digital challenges as well as facilitating access to AI resources to help them expedite administrative, strategic and creative tasks.
Tomorrow’s digital screens will be soft and elastic, so you'll get to ‘feel’ items through your phone
Scientists from the University of Bath in the UK invent a screen that deforms beneath a user’s fingers, with the surface becoming softer or stiffer in direct response to force applied.
A touch screen for digital devices that can be deformed through finger pressure, becoming softer or stiffer in direct response to force applied by the user, has been developed by computer scientists at the University of Bath.
DeformIO – as it has been named – is still a prototype and will require at least a decade of further development before it can be passed on to tech companies to be shaped into a commercial product, however its inventors regard it as groundbreaking technology.
Innovative academics selected for new Early Career Enterprise Fellowships
Ten ambitious academics have been named as the University of Bristol’s first cohort of Early Career Enterprise Fellowships (ECEF).
The ECEF award aims to support early career researchers to gain the skills necessary to make progress in commercialising University intellectual property, providing training, dedicated support and funds. The first cohort of Early Career Enterprise Fellows includes an academics working in diverse fields such as artificial intelligence, medical education, composite manufacturing, and next-generation cameras.
Impact of world-leading Centre for Appearance Research celebrated on 30th anniversary
It has grown from two researchers and a PhD student to become what is considered the largest research centre in the world focussed on appearance and body image. Now the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR) at UWE Bristol has celebrated its 30th anniversary.
CAR has grown into an internationally recognised centre of excellence, comprising 35 academics, researchers and post-graduate research students, for psychological and interdisciplinary, person-centred research in appearance, visible difference (‘disfigurement’), body image and related studies. The research centre has attracted external grant income totalling more than £25 million. Major areas of research have included body image in adults and young people, along with burns, cleft lip and palate, cancer, social media and sport.
Sign up for the New Enterprise Competition Awards Evening 2024
Delivered by Basecamp Enterprise, the New Enterprise Competition has a 25-year legacy and is a flagship in the university’s growing offer of supporting enterprise development and start-up confidence from our student, staff and graduate communities.
This evening is an opportunity for you to chat, network with canapés, and a glass of fizz, and find out who the winners are. Taking place at 6pm on 19 June at Engine Shed, Bristol.
Come along to Sport@Bath's event on the Future of Sport
Sport@Bath will be hosting a second event on 11Â June at the University of Bath. The event will focus on the future of sport, looking at how policy and research will shape the sporting landscape and how we can work with partners to deliver impact.
 Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from leaders from the world of sport, including Sport England CEO, Tim Hollingsworth and Wesport CEO, Steve Nelson, who will be providing insights and discussing the future of sports policy.Â
Gloucestershire College has been crowned Digital Provider of the Year 2024
As a committed advocate for tech skills education and increasing diversity in the sector, GC has become a go-to training provider for local employers, since launching its IT and cyber portfolio in 2017.
With an extensive range of apprenticeships to choose from, £3m training facility, ADA, National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) certification and Tech Industry Gold accreditation, GC has been working closely with the region’s leading industry voices, including CyNam, Business West LSIP, UWE Bristol, and Golden Valley Development.
GC is enrolling now for September starts of the IT, cyber, software, and digital apprenticeships and is inviting local companies to offer apprenticeship opportunities to new or existing staff.
COMX 2024 to showcase future generation of computer games programmersÂ
University of Gloucestershire’s COMX 2024 will celebrate the creative, innovative and technical talents of the future generation of computer games programmers, showcasing their skills to employers and building connections in the billion-pound industry.Â
The exhibition features projects spanning video games, interactive technologies and animation and art, all developed and created by students from the University studying degrees in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Games Design, Computer Games Programming, Games Art, Computing Technologies, Game Development and Sound and Music Production.Â
Winners of the COMX 2024 awards, which will recognise the talents of students at the University, will be announced during the exhibition, to be held on Friday 7, June between 10am and 4pm at the University’s Park Campus in Cheltenham.Â
Tickets for COMX 2024 are free but must be booked in advance.Â
