Published in the Shropshire Star Magazine
Shropshire businesses must embrace new technology if they are to expand.
This was the message from a government minister addressing the Good2Great ‘empower your business’ winter conference at Stockton House, near Bridgnorth, attended by 90 representatives.
Conservative MP for Meriden, Saqib Bhatti MBE, the parliamentary under secretary of state at the department for science, innovation and technology, with responsibility for tech and the digital economy, was keynote speaker at the event.
“Our economy must strive to be at the cutting edge of innovation and AI will play a big part in this,” Mr Bhatti told the audience.
“Tech is a great enabler. It’s a great opportunity – and not just for big businesses. Almost a third of businesses want to make use of digital tech but are unsure of how to do this.
“We need to build public trust in AI as it will be crucial to building a successful economy. The key is skills – making sure people are ready for this.
“The government is investing in skilling people up and this is particularly important in regions such as this where there are agricultural, construction and the creative industries.
“We are about to launch a new campaign aimed at people who want to adopt technical skills. It is a hugely changing landscape and an incredibly exciting time.”
Other keynote speakers at the event, multi-millionaire entrepreneur Mo Chaudry, people development expert for Good2Great Michelle Jehu and leading software developer Paul McGillivray who also spoke on the need for businesses to embrace new technology in order to evolve.
One of the delegates, Pete Barfield of Telford-based Cloud Construct, said that the seminar was a great event.
He commented: “It was very motivating and the inspiring speakers tackled important subjects that every business leader should be mindful of. I’m glad I took the time out to attend as I’ve come away with a head full of new ideas.”
