Following on from his blog about Digital Bristol Week, Mark Jacobs looks ahead to a week of events in Cardiff, centred around exploring the digital future for creative media industries in Wales.
I'm Mark Jacobs, programme manager for the . Aided by a small team of colleagues, I run a cutting edge training project called Fusion. Through labs, workshops and conferences we support the development of the latest skills that bring together the best in creative ideas and new technology – hence the name: ‘Fusion’
You can see some of our work on the Academy YouTube channel. We have seen capacity audiences at conferences ranging from the , to the and .
Back in January I published a describing a unique event we developed with partners in Bristol. Â was a great success with over 500 people attending and some fantastic . That model has now been taken forward in .
Taking place from 24-27 June, this event will bring together the best talent in the public, private, educational and training sectors in Wales to explore new ideas, innovation and opportunities across the whole digital spectrum.
Leading creative industry and digital sector companies will be showcased alongside the latest production technologies and digital platforms. Practical workshops will feature guides to digital output - across games and animation, drama and factual content - and ways to finance digital projects and build capacity through new funding models.
– a fantastic venue for this event - is throwing open its doors to host the week. They’ve also been hugely supportive and in parallel with Digital Cardiff Week are also hosting a range , following similar themes to the professional conference, with sessions on emerging technologies, digital literacy, games for learning and entrepreneurial skills.
My personal highlights include the opening presentation by Lord Patten, Chairman of the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Trust, the Technology Fair and Â鶹ԼÅÄ Connected Studio taster session and a fantastic range of free training workshops from both the Â鶹ԼÅÄ and Creative Skillset Cymru on the Monday and Tuesday.
On Wednesday there is the and on Thursday Cardiff Council have put together a fabulous day devoted to exploring the digital economy. They will highlight ways to finance digital projects and build capacity through new funding models, with sessions on digital markets and platforms; digital convergence and technology and digital funding and investment.
The event is led by a number of partners including the , , , , , and the .
If you're unable to attend, the good news is that the Monday conference will be streamed on the S4C website in and  and videos will be available on the Academy shortly after the event.
These partnership initiatives, such as Digital Cardiff and Digital Bristol Week have great potential to grow the creative and digital sector across the UK – thanks to all involved. I’m really looking forward to the week and hope you also find the events valuable either online or in person.
 is Programme Manager, Â鶹ԼÅÄ Academy.
- Further details about , including a full schedule and booking links are on the .
- Stay up to date by connecting with the Â鶹ԼÅÄ Academy on or .