The quote in my “View from the Top” this week, comes from a speaker I heard on Monday. I was invited by COLAS colleagues to join their Bouygues UK, Colas Ltd, Colas Rail, and EQUANS “Women in Leadership” networking event in London.
One of the speakers was Griselda Togobo of We are Novi. Griselda gave practical and passionate insights, but also challenged the idea that “Imposter syndrome” was a uniquely female “affliction”, for want of a better word. Griselda talked about “Be Brave” and with an audience that included men and women, I liked that she spoke about the need to be brave and seize opportunities. And…. that if these opportunities don’t exist where you are, find them elsewhere. I do wonder, if this is subtly what’s happening with the news story from Highways News and the stats released earlier this year: Number of women leaving engineering should be a wake-up call.
On Tuesday, I joined an event that for reasons of upcoming elections I can only really mention one of the partners: Connected Places Catapult. The day featured SMEs from the funding accelerator, that sought “to find new and innovative solutions or suppliers that have the potential to reduce carbon and other harmful emissions from local transport networks”. I heard presentations from seven of the SMEs that are engaged in Live trials. The SMEs included companies looking at word-based AI to predict customer issues, new materials for roads, bridges, and fencing, roadwork prediction, and a video analytics company that uses existing CCTV, without the need to purchase new equipment. One of the SMEs at the event, Alcherra Technologies, is seizing the opportunity to talk more widely about their work and will be at the Innovation & Learning Festival next week, in the Start-up Zone with ten other organisations.
It was also a great opportunity to catch up with Ann Carruthers, President representing ADEPT at the event, and with me representing LCRIG. We both agree that it is good to see emerging SMEs and start-ups, especially at a time when we need to decarbonise the sector. One of the keynote CEO speakers, from the organisation I can’t mention, talked about the challenge of our sector where concrete, asphalt, and steel is a difficult environmental constant where we must see alternative technologies and solutions being used. I was also interviewed at the event, and I talked about the importance of SMEs as part of the delivery mix for large suppliers and councils, particularly concerning innovation.
And finally, of course, I must mention the final, final preparations for next week’s Innovation & Learning Festival. We had our last project planning meeting this week, and the agenda is looking fantastic. I circulated it to our Board Members and session volunteers, ready for their support roles next week, and the team is now wrapping up the final details of the event itself. I am really excited about the programme in the Innovation Think Pavilion, no technology, just stripped back conversations and debates. It’ll be different and might not work but then “Nothing great comes from comfort zones”.
Paula Claytonsmith, CEO