Leaders gather at Smart Conference in Nottingham

More than 100 leaders from business, local authority, education and a range of other sectors gathered to exchange ideas on creating great places to live and work, at a Smart Leadership Conference held earlier today (September 28).

Smart Leadership Conference

The Conference looked at how leaders can make their cities great places to live and work, how cities can foster a positive sense of place and also, how information, communication and technology (ICT), can be used to make services run more efficiently. Today’s event was organised by partners the Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Business School, Turner & Townsend and the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership; and was held at the Nottingham Conference Centre.

D2N2 is the Local Enterprise Partnership promoting economic growth across the Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire area; and works with a range of businesses and organisations.

A City Assets Roundtable preceded the Smart Leadership Conference this morning, at which ‘think tank’ the Centre for Cities launched a research report entitled Delivering Change: How city partnerships make the most of public assets’. This publication, and a roundtable discussion among leaders, was supported by Turner & Townsend and law firm Bevan Brittan.

Speakers at the Smart Leadership Conference included:

  • David Ralph, Chief Executive of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership
  • Mike Carr, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Employer and Economic Engagement at Nottingham Trent University (NTU)
  • Professor Baback Yazdani, Dean of Nottingham Business School, NTU
  • Marcus Manning, Academic Partnerships Manager of Future Cities Catapult; a consultancy working to advance urban innovation and grow UK companies, to make cities better.
  • Chris Henning, Strategic Director for Economy, Nottingham City Council.

The Conference event also included workshops on topics including the East Midlands HS2 Growth Strategy, the plan to make the most (economically and otherwise) of Government’s plan for an HS2 Phase Two route through Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire; and on the work of NTU, the D2N2 LEP and Turner & Townsend.

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