10 minute read
Northumbria expertise helps young entrepreneurs in Africa
SAM GUILLON, INTERNATIONAL SPORTS MANAGEMENT GRADUATE
Graduates support business growth ambitions across the region
Businesses across the North East are enhancing their competitiveness with the help of Northumbria graduates as part of the Northumbria Enterprise and Business Support 2 (NEBS2) scheme.
The NEBS2 scheme offers financial assistance and expert advice to SMEs as a resul t of funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Through this scheme, Newcastle based creative marketing agency, O Communications have employed several graduate interns over the years. International Sports Management graduate Sam Guillon, who joined the agency’s Consumer PR team, said: “Stepping into this role was a natural progression for me. I had always been interested in PR and had done a lot of research into sporting influencers as part of my university dissertation. “Working for the Consumer PR team presented me with the opportunity to explore this further, and so much beyond that. I gained experience in various areas including, influencer marketing, media outreach, content creation and event planning. Having not worked in the industry before, I was really motivated to get stuck in and eager to do a good job. “I’m grateful for the skills and experience my internship has given me and would recommend all graduates looking to gain valuable insight into the industry they’re hoping to step into, to consider a similar role.” Lauren Regan, Associate Director of O Communications said: “As an agency we believe in doing what we can to drive careers forward, which drew us to NEBS2. We have employed a few graduate interns through the scheme and each one has brought real value to the company. Having Sam on board, brings a new set of ideas and creates the space for us to win new clients. “NEBS2 has given us that extra bit of support, which we needed in order to continue growing at such a fast pace. Northumbria has always provided us with high quality graduates, who are brilliant additions to the team and Sam has been exceptional. So much so that we are delighted to have offered him a permanent position on the team.”
For more information on NEBS2 and for businesses who are looking at ways to recruit highly skilled interns, please visit www.northumbria.ac.uk/NEBS
Northumbria expertise helps young entrepreneurs in Africa
Academics from Northumbria’s Newcastle Business School are working with The British Council on a project to support graduate entrepreneurs in Kenya.
While there is no shortage of entrepreneurial spirit among young people in Kenya, many new enterprises fail in the first three years because young entrepreneurs lack the skills needed to sustain a successful business beyond the start-up phase. In response to this, The British Council has established the Innovation for African Universities (IAU) programme – a new partnership between The Technical University of Kenya, Kenyatta University, Northumbria University and the Entrepreneurship Educators Foundation for East Africa, aimed at supporting young Kenyan entrepreneurs. Northumbria is internationally recognised for the quality of its entrepreneurial teaching and support, and academics from the University will now share their knowledge of how young businesses can survive and grow through an online portal for Kenyan entrepreneurs. Dr Alison Pearce, from Newcastle Business School, says the portal will be a hub of practical advice, case studies and access to mentors rooted in the experiences of successful Kenyan businesses, adding: “In particular, it will help ensure access to support for people in rural areas of Kenya. We are also very conscious not to take examples from the UK and other parts of the world and transplant them directly into Kenya.” Duncan Ochieng of the Entrepreneurship Educators Foundation, Eastern Africa – the organisation responsible for building the online portal, commented: “When entrepreneurs come in at incubation, they are on their own or a partnership of two people, but when they scale up their businesses, they will have created job opportunities. That success can be replicated in different environments and have a big impact on entrepreneurial development.”
To find out more about the British Council IAU programme visit: www.britishcouncil.org
DUNCAN OCHIENG OF THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATORS FOUNDATION
Technology and traditional craft combine to highlight women’s safety
Greater transparency in technology use could increase public trust in policing
The UK Government is currently piloting an Algorithmic Transparency Standard to help public sector organisations, such as police forces, provide clear information about the algorithmic tools they use, and why they are using them. New research shows that adopting the Standard could bring significant benefits to policing, such as improved public confidence and the opportunity to share best practice among police forces.
Led by Northumbria University Associate Professor Dr Marion Oswald, MBE, the research explores the implications for police forces of participation in the Government’s new Algorithmic Transparency Standard. The aim of the Standard is to ‘promote trustworthy innovation by providing better visibility of the use of algorithms across the public sector and enabling unintended consequences to be mitigated early on’. Based on interviews with police personnel and representatives of commercial providers, the study was conducted in parallel to the piloting of the Standard by the Cabinet Office and the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation. Interviewees generally thought that the rewards for the police of a carefully tailored Standard, implemented at the right stage of algorithmic development, outweighed the potential risks. Dr Oswald, said: “Transparency has not traditionally been associated with policing technology, for understandable reasons, but this is changing. Our interviewees – both from policing and the commercial sector – recognised how transparency can bring rewards. It can enable the public to understand more about how the police are using technology and the reasons for this. It can also enable the police themselves to learn from each other and improve what they are doing.” The report concludes that in order to help improve the quality of policing technology, the Standard should be linked to other oversight processes and promotion of best practice on a national basis, enabling police forces to learn from each other. Without this strategic approach to its use, the Standard may come to be regarded as an administrative burden rather than a benefit for policing. The research recognises the confidentiality concerns around policing contexts, where revealing technical details could fuel criminal activity. According to the report, these concerns could be mitigated in a number of ways including a non-public version of the Standard for sensitive applications and tools, which would be available to bodies with an independent oversight function The full report ‘The UK Algorithmic Transparency Standard: A Qualitative Analysis of Police Perspectives’ is available to read on the open-access online pre-print community, SSRN.
DR ÖZGE SUBASI
An intercontinental project is using traditional crafting techniques and the latest technology to explore the international issue of women’s safety.
Dr Angelika Strohmayer, Assistant Professor at Northumbria School of Design and Programme Leader for the BA (Hons) in Interaction Design, is collaborating on the project with Dr Özge Subasi, director of Futurewell Research Group at the Department of Media and Visual Arts at Istanbul’s Koc University, to explore women’s safety. The partnership resulted in the creation of two ‘sister quilts’, featuring symbols, words and shapes inspired by resistance against poverty, threats to women’s safety and the rupturing of traditional gender roles. A series of patchwork squares were created during live and online sessions which were held at Northumbria Campus and in Turkey, as part of the Istanbul Women of the World Festival. During the Newcastle workshops, discussions covered childhood and growing up, childcare, accessibility of cities for disabled people and cyclists, and systematic oppressions. Meanwhile, in Istanbul, patches were embroidered by individuals from a non-government organisation (NGO) supporting blind people, women cyclist activists, personnel from NGOs combatting migrant food poverty, and others. Dr Strohmayer explained that they used technology to ensure this globally important topic could be explored multiculturally: “These quilts, one of which will remain in Newcastle and the other in Istanbul, will be digitally connected through Augmented Reality markers, virtually linking the stories stitched into them.” Dr Özge Subasi added: “These sister quilts exist to support solidarity among women in two cities that are thousands of miles apart.” Textile artists in Turkey and members of the public including support workers and charity representatives, have all contributed towards ‘Embroidering Protection’. Sevra Davis, Director of Architecture Design and Fashion at the British Council, stated: “We are proud to support the ‘Embroidering Protection’ project, which demonstrates how craft, collaboration, community and technology can come together to address one of today’s most pressing issues; women’s safety.”
To find out more about ‘Embroidering Protection’ visit www.northumbria.design/ projects/embroideringprotection/
Northumbria research combats counterfeit crime
Northumbria University academic Professor Xuemei Bian has been awarded almost £80,000 by the British Academy to research the growing influence of social media on counterfeit crime.
In collaboration with the UK Intellectual Property Office, the funding is being used by Professor Bian to deliver a research project entitled Trademark Infringement and Social Media - A Collaborative Approach. As part of the project, Professor Bian also organised a symposium at Northumbria exploring how research in this area is enabling a greater sharing of knowledge and fostering collaboration opportunities between government officials, eminent scientists and researchers and business practitioners. According to the International Anti-counterfeiting Coalition, counterfeiting, by definition, is a crime involving the theft of someone’s registered trademark. Counterfeit, or fake, products are characterised as those bearing a trademark that is identical or indistinguishable from genuine trademarked goods. Counterfeiting is considered a serious crime that can discourage innovation, reduce consumer confidence and destroy brand reputations. Counterfeiting can also cause economic damage through a loss of revenue, increased costs and impact on jobs. Furthermore, it can threaten consumer health and safety, and lower global welfare.
PROFESSOR XUEMEI BIAN
Professor Bian, from Northumbria’s Newcastle Business School, said various anti-counterfeiting measures, including diligent litigation, are often implemented to combat counterfeiting, but added: “Nevertheless, it continues to thrive, fuelled by the increasing volume of counterfeits on social media platforms. Almost 60,000 active accounts promoting counterfeits were discovered on Instagram in 2019, an increase of more than 171 per cent compared to three years prior. With 45 per cent of the world’s population now active social media users who would be likely to make purchases from social media networks, counterfeits on social media platforms pose a greater risk than ever. This is therefore a hugely important research area, and I was delighted to receive the grant from an organisation as prestigious as the British Academy.” Professor Bian’s symposium earlier this year attracted key speakers, including fellow academics, legal experts, trading standards and other professional bodies, businesses, and research centres such as the Anticounterfeiting Centre for Product Protection (USA). It was used to stimulate debate and encourage wider collaboration in advance of future workshops where findings from the research will be revealed and disseminated. The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. It invests in researchers and projects across the UK and overseas to gain new insights, engage the public with fresh thinking and debates, and bring together scholars, government, business and civil society to influence policy for the benefit of everyone.
