More than 220 business leaders from across the Central South gathered for the Annual Conference and enjoyed a fascinating line-up of speakers.
Keynote Pippa Crerar, Political Editor of the Guardian, gave a captivating speech that touched on recent political events on both sides of the pond.
Addressing leaders in the room, she said; “The government is desperate for growth and if you can offer it, they will want to work with you.”
While Dame Wendy Hall, DBE, FRS, FREng, Regius Professor of Computer Science, Associate Vice President (International Engagement) and Director of the Web Science Institute at the University of Southampton. used the platform as an opportunity to spotlight Southampton as an AI city of Excellence, with an aspiration for the Central South to be recognised as an AI Region of Excellence
.“I have been talking to the government about this and we have a major opportunity to make Southampton an AI City of Excellence and in time, we could scale it up to over the whole region.
“We really want to be working with businesses in the room and Business South’s Action Groups to take this forward,” said Dame Wendy, who is an advisor to the UK government and many other governments and companies around the world and in 2023 was appointed to the United Nations high-level advisory body on artificial intelligence
Futurologist Dr Nicola Millard, Principal Innovation Partner at BT tackled the fascinating subject of the future of work.
Hybrid ways of working are here to stay she said and the challenge for many of was to find the way to optimise productivity during the working day. Research has shown our brains are able to work on complex tasks for a maximum of four hours so we need to use that time wisely.
Lee Peck ably and joyfully compered the event and ensured there was plenty of time for probing questions.
As she opened the conference, Business South Group CEO, Leigh-Sara Timberlake said the time was right to champion good growth for our region not growth at any cost.
“Let’s not aim to compete with the rest of the UK for investment, talent and trade but ensure we have a seat at the table alongside our UK colleagues collectively championing UK PLC but ensuring we receive our fair share of the prosperity cake,” she said.
Andrew Carter, CEO of Centre for Cities, gave a national overview and delved into what makes a city successful.
He pinpointed how Southampton, Portsmouth and Bournemouth compare with other major UK cities and said leadership in our region was key.
“Leadership really does matter and the best leadership focuses on the future,” he said.
A project that has enabled 242 people to find work and saved the public purse millions of pounds in the process was the spotlight feature for the day. Wayne Layton, Executive Head of Regeneration, Economic Development and Preventative Services at Havant Borough Council said the University of Portsmouth had calculated the £233K scheme to get young people into work, had resulted in savings of £28m.
An update on the recent activity of Business South’s Action Groups (Regenerate South, People South and Maritime & Transport Action Group) was also given and Professor Cathy Barnes, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Southampton Solent University, called for a clear education vision to be at the heart of devolution in our region.
Two new Action groups were launched.
Alison Barnes, CEO of New Forest National Park said Sustainable South led by Kamile Nesteckyte and Dan Walster from Atkins Realis had the potential to build on existing foundations.
“We are not starting from scratch. We want this region to be a world class environment with a world class economy,” she said.
Energy and Utilities South Action Group was launched by Shaun Stevens, UK GM of EPS Water.
He said infrastructure was at the core of the issue facing the region when it comes to energy and we have the potential to be a UK leader on solar power.
