With Leeds being home to the largest digital sector outside London, the University is celebrating its contribution with a series of events during Leeds Digital Festival 2017.
“The future success of the digital industries depends on a strong pipeline of talented students and graduates, with cutting-edge creative and digital skills,” said Professor Tom Ward, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Student Education.
“We are continually evolving the content of our courses and co-curricular opportunities to reflect ongoing digital innovation, to develop and attract the very best students.
“Events like the Digital Festival help students to feel part of the bigger picture, offering opportunities to connect to digital industries, and we can help the city showcase and profile our digital expertise and knowledge.
“We look forward to members of the public to joining us at our events and welcome everyone to campus.”
Festival Director, Stuart Clarke, acknowledges the University’s role:
"We're delighted to have a number of key events run by the University of Leeds at this year's Leeds Digital Festival.
“We've seen a large increase in the number of jobs in the digital sector in recent years and it's vital that the city and the University work closely together to provide valuable job opportunities to the many talented graduates we have in Leeds."
University events for the Digital Film Festival
Cultural Institute Film Prize
Monday 24 April – the Cultural Institute Short Film Prize and screening of films
Riley Smith Hall, Leeds University Union, 4.00-7.00pm
Student film-making crews and leading researchers from the University have come together to produce short films, covering the latest innovations in digital creativity and responding creatively to new research.
After the screening, there will be a chance to hear from the film-makers and to find out more about the research projects they drew on to create the films.
Col Needham, founder of IMDb and Leeds alumnus, will be judging the competition alongside alumna Karen Emanuel, Managing Director of Key Production. Book a place at the prizegiving.
Data analytics
Thursday 27 April – Leeds Institute for Data Analytics seminar: Efficient programming for data analytics –
Clarendon Wing lecture theatre, 3.30-6.00pm
Leading researchers will talk about how they have used software development and efficient programming to further research projects. Book a place at the seminar.
On Your Marks
Thursday 27 April – Digital Disruption and the Need to Evolve
Maurice Keyworth Building, 5.30-7.30pm
A panel event in the ‘On Your Marks’ networking seminar series run in partnership with Marks and Spencer plc, this will address the question, “How does an organisation with over 130 year’s heritage implement a digital strategy, manage change and develop and attract digital talent?”
Speakers will include Stuart Clarke, Director of the Leeds Digital Festival, Simon Wood, Head of Operations at M&S.com, and Pete Williams, Head of Enterprise Analytics at M&S. Sign up for this free seminar and networking event.
Leeds Digital Festival
The North's largest digital festival runs from 22 - 29 April, with upwards of 100 events and with an anticipated 10,000 attendees. In 2016, over 6,000 people attended 56 events, in 28 venues featuring over 175 speakers.
For the full events programme, see the Leeds Digital Festival website.
Further information
Journalists requiring further details or interviews should contact Prue Griffiths in the University of Leeds press office on 0113 34 34360 or email P.Griffiths@leeds.ac.uk