Merged Futures is our annual technology innovation showcase, bringing together digital and tech experts in business, education, healthcare and more from Northamptonshire and beyond.
Exhibitors
Amazon Web Services
Axiell
Bibliotheca
Hublet Oy
Iris IoT
Metro Bank
Microsoft
Northampton College Games Design
RiVR
S-SA Digital
Tresham College Games Design
University of Northampton 3D Printing
University of Northampton Games Design
West Northamptonshire Council Digital Team
West Northamptonshire Council Libraries
Local Stories
Northamptonshire is home to some of the most iconic venues in the Midlands.
They include the home of the Formula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone, one of the premier arts destinations in the region at the Royal & Derngate Theatre and Europe’s largest action sports arena at Adrenaline Alley.
To stay at the top, you have to keep up with the latest innovation - we brought together leaders and experts to share the digital and tech stories behind operations at some of our county’s most famous names.
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Northamptonshire’s LibraryPlus service has always embraced new technology, bringing innovation to its locations across the county and widening digital access for all.
Jaisant Patel from West Northamptonshire Council and the service’s technology partners will present what the future looks like for libraries.
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Royal & Derngate Theatre is Northamptonshire’s main venue for arts and entertainment.
Chief Executive Jo Gordon and regular collaborator Chris Lowe from One Brown Bear discuss how theatres are using digital developments to enhance the live experience rather than work in opposition to it, and how technology can improve the content we create, both on and off our stages.
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Hear from Marketing Director Harry Tucker about Adrenaline Alley’s history and ambition and the kind of technology it takes to power it.
From social media, to digital business systems, from apps for ordering food to working with American partners on a new game - listen to Harry bring this great Northamptonshire story to life.
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Ray Meadham from MultiView Media will talk about how a potential 6G testbed at Silverstone race track will improve the fan experience for those spectators live at the event.
From being your own director to viewing the action in virtual reality, from F1 to live concerts - 6G has the potential to make the live fan experience even better than the armchair fan.
It’s taking fan engagement to the next level - the future of sport is here.
HealthTech
Always among the most popular sessions at Merged Futures, innovation in healthcare is helping to transform lives and Northamptonshire is leading the way.
Northampton is home to the world’s first Virtual Reality therapy centre and benefits from strong links between the town’s hospital and university.
We sought out four sessions that dive deeper into the world of health tech, from assistive and rehabilitation technology to how the contemporary art world can benefit those with additional needs.
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Hear how Pedro Santos, Assistive Technology Lead at West Northamptonshire Council, is helping to keep care home residents safe and well.
Technology can benefit everyone involved in the provision of care, removing barriers to adopt and ensuring value for money.
Find out the solutions Pedro has succeeded with, failed with and which areas of technology and care he’ll focus on in the future.
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Digital drawing, robotics, sound composition, 3D scanning and 3D printing are just some of the activities being delivered by the team at Fermynwoods Contemporary Art.
James Steventon and Stuart Moore will share some of the innovative ways they have been engaging with different communities.
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In this talk, Dr James Richmond will explain how he’s using his tech skills to help Northampton General Hospital.
James says: “As a doctor I understand it's important to advertise public health information to patients who are often sitting in waiting rooms, sometimes for ten minutes and occasionally for up to an hour.
The elderly population sometimes don't have phones to scroll away on so a TV screen provides some interest as well as being useful for advertising public health information or practice information.”
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The University of Northampton's Dr. Roshni Khatri talks about the work being done in the community to create bespoke treatment sessions augmented by technology.
The pandemic has enabled rehabilitation in the home environment using Zoom, video calls and other mobile applications.
It is now even more important to ensure we are using an evidence-based approach to rehabilitation.
Together with partner Neurovirt, this means evaluating the use of AI and VR to develop bespoke therapy solutions for people with long-term conditions.
Come and explore the programme!
EdTech
Digital Northants has always tried to shine a light on the great work happening locally in education.
The career pathway from school to college to university has become clearer for digital and tech students and graduates in recent years thanks to initiatives at each age group.
We continued to help tell those stories as well as showing how educational institutions are pushing boundaries to help give young people the tools they need to excel.
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Learn how local gaming social enterprise Buildersbrew is using Game, App and Extended Reality (XR) development to digitalise Northamptonshire and beyond.
Rob Lambert, Programme Leader for Games Design and Senior Lecturer in Games Art at the University of Northampton, created Buildersbrew - a new company aiming to give graduates an advantage in the competitive gaming industry.
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Hear from the University of Northampton's Eleanor Morris how data, automation and analytics could make an impact on your business.
Find out how you can develop your staff to give them the skills they need to support your business and decision making. Watch analytics in action and see their impact.
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Steph Lee-Vae is an arts and design lecturer.
Steph loves working with students on creative processes and was recently named Further Education Lecturer of the Year.
Steph’s session will cover:
creative block and how to overcome it!
cutting corners: free open-source tools that can be used for creative education
lightbulb moments: ideas for developing creative initiatives and projects
highlights: student work highlighting individualistic freedom within digital arts
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Hear about a fantastic collaboration between university students working with Creating Tomorrow Trust pupils.
This project is co-creating a set of digital activities using Augmented Reality to bring the archaeological site at Chester House Estate to life.
Digital Marketing
Returning for a second year, our Digital Marketing room focused mainly on those tricky first steps into an increasingly popular area of work.
Delegates heard from three talented digital and marketing professionals making waves at local organisations and got an insight into social media’s current landscape.
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S-SA’s Darren Sharp talks about attracting top talent to your business.
Then hear from S-SA's Ellie Scott-Jennings on her journey into the world of work and how her approach to getting a job can be the blueprint for others to follow.
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With many specialist roles to choose from and a variety of campaigns to work on, no day is the same in public sector comms and there is an opportunity to make a real difference within your local council and NHS organisations.
Come and find out about Megan Denny’s comms journey from the University of Northampton to West Northamptonshire Council and how, together with colleagues, we make a difference in our communications every day.
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The Chester House Estate is one of Northamptonshire’s newest attractions - a historic site hosting all kinds of events throughout the year.
Georgia Wales, Business Development and Marketing Officer at Chester House, shares her passion for bringing the site’s incredible past and present to life through digital marketing and more.
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Three years on from Ken Punter’s fantastic presentation, titled ‘The Death of Social Media?’, at one of the first Digital Northants events, he returns to see if any of his predictions have come true.
Ken will talk through the beginnings of how human beings have always been social animals, meeting in coffee shops or the market square, gathering in groups of like-minded people.
Reflecting on some the issues and predictions, he brings things up to date and thinks about how AI influences our thoughts.
This includes the threat of big brother, government interference from the East and West and how many things from elections to covid coverage has been influenced in the social space.
It also features the banning of Donald Trump and what that means for our future use of social media platforms.
Ken will bring his talk right up to date with the rise of Tik Tok, Twitch and how ChatGPT is changing our future... today.
The more things change the more they stay the same. If you want to know about the future of social media, you won't want to miss this.