ScotSoft 2021 is virtual this year and completely free to attend, which means anyone can join! Even if you’re part of a non-tech industry, you might learn about how technology could help improve your business, or you might be interested in advice about retaining talent or leadership tips.
With nearly 30 speaker sessions and a little something for everyone, we thought we’d highlight some of the speakers in our leadership stream, one of the key themes of the event.
Here’s a bit of a taster of the lineup we have in store for you on October 7th.
Our keynote speaker on the day is Dr Bonnie Dunbar, professor of aerospace engineering and former astronaut. Her career at NASA included five spaceflights on the Space Shuttle, and seven years in various management roles as a member of the Senior Executive Service. Dunbar is an elected member of the National Academy of Engineers and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, and is a Fellow of the AIAA, ACerS, and the Royal Aeronautical Society. She has 7 honorary academic degrees and was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in April, 2013. You won’t want to miss this fascinating session.
We will have Ali Law, Associate at Hanya Partners and founder of AL Innovate. Ali is an all-round digital guru with vast experience spanning numerous senior roles, including Head of Group Technology at Halifax and Head of Digital Transformation at Royal London. His talk will explore pace and innovation as the key role of IT in a digital world.
Founder and CEO of Gigged.AI, Richard Wilson, will give us an overview of the Future of Work and discuss how to make hybrid and fully remote teams a key part of your projects by using new technology. Geraldine Higgins from Flexibility Works will join to share examples of hybrid working being implemented in Scottish companies and some of the steps to take.
We’ll have a panel session chaired by veteran tech entrepreneur, Ross Tuffee, and featuring Rich Wilson, CEO of Gigged.AI, Susan McRoberts, Chief Curator at The Curated Consultancy, Dr Jo Watts, CEO of Effini, Pamela Crawford of the University of Stirling, and Claire Gillespie, Digital Economy Skills Planning Manager at Skills Development Scotland. Our panelists will discuss the current challenges of recruiting and retaining great developer talent, with the pandemic having created a huge uptake in the demand for tech skills and the impact this is having on salaries and attrition rates amongst developers.
An experienced innovator for a Tier 1 global Financial Services firm, Keith O’Donnell has expertise in quantum technologies, cloud computing, AI for risk optimisation, machine learning techniques and much more. Currently, his core focus lies on helping to prepare for future disruptors coming down the pipeline, as well as being a fierce advocate of encouraging diversity in leadership through supporting and mentoring individuals. His talk will offer a lighthearted look at the technologies of the next 10 years and how they may impact daily life across all aspects of society and culture.
Global Head of Strategic Programs at IFS, Markos Symeonides, joins us for ScotSoft 2021. He invests in socially impacting businesses as well as guiding business and technology companies through boards seats, coaching, incubator services and advisory. He is focussed in early or mid stage companies in Scotland and the UK while also running a very successful family investment office. A 20 year veteran in the Enterprise Cloud Software market, Markos will run an informative session on leadership insights and top tips for success.
Don’t forget to register and tune in this Thursday (October 7th) to access all of these insights and more.