Esri UK appoints Mark Wells as CTO
Esri UK has appointed Mark Wells as its new chief technology officer (CTO). He moves from his current position as head of technical support and managed cloud services divisions.
Wells takes over from Charles Kennelly, who moves to the position of group CTO at Esri Holdings Ltd. This includes Esri UK, Esri Ireland and IT professional services company Helyx.
Wells has been at Esri for almost 20 years and was responsible for creating the company’s managed cloud services offering, which has experienced 50% growth year-on-year during the last six years.
NextGen hackathon finds digital solutions
Apprentices, engineers, and students put their heads together to come up with solutions to problems in the advanced manufacturing sector.
The hackathon was hosted by the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Barnsley Digital Media Centre (DMC) last month. It was part of the NextGen project.
Held at AMRC’s Factory 2050 facility, participants examined data challenges including: analysis and visualisation; how to gain accessible useful insights; collection tools; existing and new tools for data capture and storage; and combining data sets.
Ideas will be showcased at the next NextGen event hosted by AMRC and DMC on 13 April.
Generative AI could take 6% of jobs in construction
A report from investment bank Goldman Sachs has predicted that advancements in generative AI could result in 300 million jobs across Europe and the US being lost or downgraded.
The report found the AI will mostly be replacing jobs in administrative roles, 46%, and legal roles, 44%, and just 6% and 4% in construction and maintenance respectively.
However the report also argued that automation will lead to innovation and the creation of new job types. Automation will save companies money that they can reinvest in business and that overall global GDP could increase by 7% as a result.
Barcelona plots 15-minute communities
Barcelona City Council and the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre have completed the first results of its digital twin project.
The information will now go towards implementing 15-minute communities, feeding into detailed analysis to inform public policy and help improve the quality of life for citizens.
Turing University Network launched
The Alan Turing Institute has launched the Turing University Network creating a community of UK universities with an interest in data science and artificial intelligence (AI).
So far 36 universities with previous connections to the institute have signed up, and more will be invited shortly.
Donna Brown director of academic engagement said the network, “creates opportunity for meaningful collaboration where interests align across research and innovation, skills, and engagement.”
Dates for your diary
The Digital Construction Awards shortlists announced: 9 May
Digital Construction Awards: 4 July
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