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#MADF - Manchester's Digital Future

Last night I was lucky enough to get a seat at SMC_MCR’s latest talk on how Manchester can push its digital credentials and increase its credibility. There was a lot of interesting discussion, and it covered quite a range of subjects directly and indirectly related to my own opinions and ideas. In this post I’ll cover some of that discussion.

As an aside, I bumped into Adam from Future State Digital - @FutureStateDigi. We worked together a few years ago, and he left to start his own business. It’s the second time that I’ve met him since he started Future State, the first was equally coincidental at a blood drive. I’m pleased to say that his company seems to be going great guns, but then knowing him, that’s unsurprising.

Connectivity:

Some of the early conversation was around access to internet services, provision of public wi-fi, and broadband rollout. I’m biased (working in a day job environment that supplies that to end users) but this really puzzled me. The slogan put forward asking for unlimited bandwidth and zero latency seemed to come from a lack of information about how networks operate. Peering and transit agreements mean no bandwidth is ever truly free, although it can be purchased through agreements and trade in kind. No network, from local users, through ISPs to upstream providers and backbone networks gives away bandwidth. Bandwidth may be included in the price of other services, or hidden in reciprocal agreements, but asking for unlimited bandwidth is asking to be your own internet. Zero latency I’ll ignore, since that’s patently impossible.

What surprised me most was the attitudes towards provision. There were complaints about the speed of service on what was described as a critical resource. I instantly wondered why they weren’t looking at simple alternatives like load balancing, or moving to a site served by a shared leased line. Certainly, there will be a cost involved, but if a function is critical for the operation of your business, why aren’t you focusing on making the best of it? Why wait for a possible scheme to lay fibre optics along a rail track? There are plenty of ways to get access to more bandwidth, and plenty of companies happy to take your money to talk to you about bundling services, or managing load balancing devices. As was said later in the evening JFDI (subtext - yes, the attitude to internet access provision irked me).

Access and representation:

This I mentally rolled into the connectivity discussion, since it was about connecting communities and individuals. It was a bitter-sweet part of the evening. There was no doubting the passion in Erinma Ochu ( @erinmaochu )’s voice as she talked about helping the disadvantaged and disenfranchised to connect, and about reskilling the unemployed. I was genuinely touched. Conversely, I was disappointed that some people that were viewing tried to make the issue of “representation” on the panel bite. I thought the current decision makers were represented reasonably well, and could give an insight into an objective future. They seemed committed to involving the less fortunate and those possibly on the margin. Asking why the panel wasn’t assembled including those not currently engaged or active was just bizarre. The panel even deviated to answer the question directly. Yes, those external to the process now would probably like to be involved in future. No, they don’t have that option now. Yes, the current panel were trying to help. It was dealt with in a reasoned, calm way. I could see nothing that provoked the response of the asker that they were being victimised as “obsessed and destructive”.

Organisation:

The subject of a cohesive structure to push forwards the needs of Mancunian digital business was one that cropped up every three years cyclically we were told. I’m not surprised. There is clearly the need to push an agenda, and it’s being done on an individual, ad hoc, chaotic basis. Everyone seems to be working towards the same goal, but without communication. There’s a the germ of an idea forming around the Manchester Startup FB group. I think that’s something that we’ll need to see nourished and hugely expanded for long term benefit.

When an audience member talked about startup culture and creating an ecosystem, he was attacked by another member for not spending time talking to kids. I had mental disconnect - the complaint was a total non-sequiter and I wrote it off as nonsense or grandstanding.

Education:

We came round to the subject of education later in the evening. I feel strongly about this (as did many people there). I’ve seen first hand how enthusiastic kids can be when introduced to IT (or ICT) and how badly that can be derailed. I’ve given young kids a talk on careers in IT at a primary school on a council estate. I was blown away by how excited they were. The second that I mentioned streaming video from space, their jaws dropped open. When I compared my days playing Cylon Attack on the BBC Model B (Dave Mee - take note) to their 360s or PS3s they laughed. When I cracked open a machine to show them how simple it was, they nearly knocked me over rushing to peek inside. Conversely, I’ve been horrified talking to teenagers for whom the sum of lessons on IT have been learning how to use a particular piece of software. When I quizzed them on what the software was doing, I got shrugs and blank looks in return.

There’s no doubt that Manchester has a great engineering, science and manufacturing education base and history. We seem to be failing to push that, or utilise it properly. I don’t want our talent to atrophy, and equally I want there to be the opportunities to use it in and for Manchester.

Manchester’s Digital Future:

The final question of the evening was one of the most open - what IS Manchester’s digital future? In my own opinion, it *could* be bright. We have almost everything necessary to be a thriving startup hub. Almost.

Manchester has great transport links both national and international. It has fantastic education establishments, and cutting edge research agencies. It has some funds available to help. Importantly, it has excited passionate people that want it to succeed. What it doesn’t have is large numbers of investors. We don’t have the ecosystem yet. We don’t have the aggregation of talent. To give the best possible future to Manchester (and feeling slightly like I’m channelling Tony Montana) first you need the big IT firms, then you get the talent aggregation, then you get the ecosystem, then you get the investors, then you get the startup hub. Step 1 has to be attracting big companies that employ super talented engineers. If Manchester wants to commit to an ideal digital future it must bring in the big guns. It must put enough money/benefits/inducements on the table to bring organisations that have top tier techies.  When those techies start making their own startups in their own time, the ball gets rolling. If you have enough companies forming and exiting you attract/create investors. That’s how you make a startup hub. Not declaring you are one. Not creating a government fudge of weak initiatives and backslapping.

Manchester has a history of disruption in a number of industries. Its been a powerhouse of technological revolution. I can think of nowhere better to start another such revolution for the UK.

JB