{"id":592,"date":"2020-07-28T15:39:37","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T14:39:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/?p=592"},"modified":"2020-09-28T15:45:18","modified_gmt":"2020-09-28T14:45:18","slug":"dorset-reloaded-cows-satellites-and-covid19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/digital-first\/2020\/07\/28\/dorset-reloaded-cows-satellites-and-covid19\/","title":{"rendered":"Dorset Reloaded – cows, satellites and Covid19"},"content":{"rendered":"

Our most recent Digital Network event was memorable for two things:<\/p>\n

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  1. the first virtual network was the biggest yet, but the REMO software enabled us to herd our 92 attendees with ease,<\/li>\n
  2. our vision for Dorset in the future included the powerful image of cows that text.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The network has developed considerably since we started it in 2017.\u00a0 One of the changes we have made is we no longer call it a \u2018digital\u2019 network; instead we found that publicising the event by the topic opens it up to the widest possible audience.\u00a0 This has doubled the amount of attendees and attracted as many residents and businesses as colleagues from our own and other public sector organisations to the meetings.<\/p>\n

    Our network meeting was due in May but at that point we were in the midst of our COVID19 response and we felt it wasn’t the right time.\u00a0 We needed to think about how the network could work in a virtual environment; although it\u2019s about raising digital awareness we didn\u2019t\u2019 want it be purely presentation in style.\u00a0 People tell us the most valuable part of the network is the time they spend making contacts and sharing knowledge with a range of different people, so we considered the best way to enable this.<\/p>\n

    Digital Leaders\u2019 week in June used technology that demonstrated virtual networking was possible and this caught our attention.\u00a0 Around the same time Andy Sandford<\/a> from Lean & Agile<\/a> approached me to see if I would participate in a South West Event he was hosting using REMO, the same technology Digital Leaders had used.<\/p>\n

    At Dorset Council we use MS Teams which has enabled us to connect and collaborate as a workforce and continue council meetings during COVID19.\u00a0 We use Teams Meetings, Live Events and OBS Studio functionality to do this.\u00a0 We are using Teams channels and are exploring break out rooms to enable group work during workshops; MS Teams is improving all the time responding to user needs.\u00a0 What MS Teams hasn\u2019t supported so far is:<\/p>\n

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    1. that fluid networking when you have a large number of attendees, where people can roam around and change easily the groups they are working with,<\/li>\n
    2. delivery of conference type events where you have multiple streams running at the same time<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      This is the current gap that REMO can fill.\u00a0 This month\u2019s network was kindly hosted by Andy using REMO as a trial for us.\u00a0 It seemed appropriate to have our 8th networks theme as \u2018Dorset Reloaded\u2019.\u00a0 We looked back at what we’ve achieved in the last 12 months since the kick off event<\/a> for Dorset\u2019s Digital Future and considered recent worldwide events.<\/p>\n

      \"\"<\/p>\n

      We had 92 people attend and REMO was new to most people but they all navigated happily between the sessions and the separate discussion tables.\u00a0 We heard from Alex Smith<\/a> and Matt Prosser<\/a> about the impact COVID19 has had on businesses and public services, and Paul Febvre<\/a> from the Satellite Applications Catapult talked to us about 5G technology including the potential for agritech – and those cows that text!<\/p>\n

      The recordings from the event will be published on YouTube<\/a> when ready.\u00a0 There was lots of discussion and we have captured the latest thinking to continue to influence our work and priorities for Dorset’s Digital future.<\/p>\n

      \"Dorset's<\/p>\n

      What did we learn about using REMO:<\/p>\n