News

It’s official - our iPhone Apps Development course is the best in the world. Australian based mobile and web developer, Patrick Dockhorn from jTribe came to Old Broadcasting House to attend nti’s  January iPhone Development course. Patrick used the web to seek out the course he was looking for, and after seeing what nti had to offer, he decided to travel over 10,000 miles to Leeds to take forward his plans to expand  jTribe into new online and external revenue streams. (more…)

Congratulations to Old Broadcasting House coworking members Gerard Savva and Becky Edlin, who joined the Innovation Showcase in September 2009 to develop their business. Since then, Magpie has produced high profile campaigns for clients such as the BBC, National Union of Students (NUS), as well as Universities and Students’ Unions across the country.

The duo also work with local businesses relying heavily on student-spend, and national charities who are looking to increase student involvement. Magpie’s hard work has recently paid off with a nomination for the prestigious Sir Peter Thompson Award for Enterprise and Business. (more…)

A great coup for Leeds - the city is the first to be home to Guardian Local. The Guardian Local Leeds site is a collaborative community journalism initiative to provide local online news.  We’re pleased to welcome Leeds Beatblogger, John Baron, and Guardian Local launch editor Sarah Hartley as our newest coworking members at Old Broadcasting House.

Guardian Local aims to explore new models for journalism and social engagement through a mix of reporting, collaboration engagement with local communities, organisations and groups and aggregation.

Check out their  review of the Leeds Girl Geek Dinner on 11th February that featured two inspirational speakers from the games industry.

You can contact Leeds Beatblogger John Baron by email, and on Twitter @GdnLeeds

The BBC has announced the companies who have been selected to take part in the new @North commissioning initiative being led by BBC Children’s (who are part of the BBC move to Salford in 2011). In Yorkshire there are 20 successful companies from South and West Yorkshire, reflecting the strength of the digital sector in both Leeds and Sheffield.

These companies will now work in small groups with senior subject experts in both children’s content and technology, to learn more about working with the BBC and develop their ideas at intensive workshop days. Four final projects will be commissioned  for CBBC and Cbeebies.

(more…)

CompeteFor is a free service that enables businesses to compete for contract opportunities linked to the London 2012 Games and other major public and private sector buying organisations.

With a particular focus on supply chain opportunities, CompeteFor acts as a brokerage service, matching buyers with potential suppliers. It also facilitates access to focused business support, through the national Business Link network, helping to boost the long–term competitiveness of your business.

Registering on CompeteFor will bring you closer to accessing new business opportunities relevant to your sector. This service is delivered through a partnership between public and private sector organisations, working closely with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). (more…)

IT professionals and telecom organisations enjoyed food, fizz and jazz at The Loft last week. TechMesh held the first of a brand new network event for more than 100 attendees that heard from internet guru Marco Potesta, and Orange Business Development Head, Conrad Poulson.

TechMesh are looking for feedback surrounding future speakers, topics, and formats. Have your say at the TechMesh blog here, for any specific questions contact Dawn direct on 0113 384 5641 or email dawn@techmesh.org.

Apple is seeking to find creative students to showcase their skills in the Creative Contest 2010. The best 15 entries will be shortlisted by Apple staff from each category, and then go on to a panel of industry professionals who will choose the top three.

The three winners in each category will receive fantastic prizes, a free Apple Certified Pro Certification Exam, feature in the iTunes Store Podcast directory and a trip to the awards ceremony in London. Flights and accommodation will be covered by Apple. (more…)

Joseph Edmonds is an ecommerce specialist who runs Edmonds Commerce. He has recently created and taught on the new nti Magento course. Joseph answers some questions about he’s career so far…  (more…)

Green IT is gaining momentum, and already organisations are reporting a skills gap around areas such as the implementation of virtualisation and the building of a Green IT infrastructure. In response to the growing discussion facing Green IT, Old Broadcasting House hosted a Green IT mini conference on Monday 18th January. The day included guest speakers from Helen Harrop (Digital 20/20), Colin Coghill (formerly University of Leeds) and Leeds Met’s Innovation North Professor Colin Pattinson. The three main questions posed were, what does “green” really mean? Why be Green? How to be Green? Each was discussed in 15 minute presentations and a debate with the speaker panel. (more…)

During December, Innovation Showcase coworker Tim Waters joined us here at Old Broadcasting House. Tim is a freelance geospatial developer and consultant who runs he’s own company called Think Where. Tim also volunteers with OpenStreetMap (OSM), a free editable map of the whole world. OSM allows users to view, edit and use geographical data in a collaborative way. (more…)

4iP is teaming up with Facebook to offer two individuals or companies up to £100,000 each to create Facebook apps, websites, tools, services, or mobile products which people can use to understand how Britain really works - or doesn’t. (more…)

Screen Yorkshire has a tender opportunity to deliver a digital marketing campaign for the cross region project NorthernNet. The tender deadline is open now, with a closing date of noon on Friday 22nd January 2010.

The outline of the objectives for the campaign are:

- To raise awareness of the NorthernNet brand across the North of England within the digital and creative industries and related media channels

- Devise and buy a web media campaign to market and raise awareness of the NorthernNet brand across the creative and digital industry as a whole

- Devise and buy a web media campaign to market and raise awareness of the NorthernNet brand with key digital and creative sectors e.g. animation, music etc.

- Generate excitement and engagement in the opportunities available from the NorthernNet innovations and collaborations project within the creative and digital industries

- Promote the use of the media access bureaus (physical access to the NorthernNet system in venues across the North) and the role  NorthernNet infrastructure plays in delivering competitive advantage to key sector SMEs

For further details of the opportunity, you can find out more on the Screen Yorkshire website by clicking here.

nti Works is a programme run by nti Leeds lasting approximately three months, designed to help new graduates get started as freelancers in the digital sector. The programme consists of some core training that has been specially designed to help you get started, as well as providing a virtual training account which enables enrollment on to courses from the nti schedule - see www.ntileeds.co.uk/training.

nti is pleased to announce the launch of the January Programme 2010! If successful in applying, you will be assigned a mentor to help you plan your professional development and you will also become a sponsored member of our pioneering coworking space at Old Broadcasting House, which will enable you to work alongside current members. During the time you are here you will be encouraged to get involved in the Leeds grass roots community, attending meetups, coffee events and evening presentations depending on your particular area of specialism (for example Open Coffee Leeds, Creative Networks, GeekUp Leeds, Barcamps, Hackspace etc) to start building your network of contacts which will be crucial to getting started. (more…)

Leeds Metropolitan’s Innovation North Faculty is offering some exciting Creative & Digital Postgraduate Study for January 2010. These include Music Technology, Sound Design, Games Design, Computing Animation, Digital Video & Special Effects, Creative Technology and Information Systems. 

The aim is to challenge and support clients through projects derived from industry connections including staff, who are themselves practising creative technologists. (more…)

MediaCityUK have announced their plan’s to connect businesses and residents to one of the most advanced communications networks in the world when the first phase of the £500 million complex is completed in 2011.

Peel Media, the developers and owners of MediaCityUK, today awarded a multi-million pound, five-year communications and IT contract to BT Business, the division of BT Retail that serves the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses. (more…)

Wordpress has recently won Overall Best Open Source CMS Award in the Open Source CMS Awards 2009.

“This is a landmark for us, as it is the first time we’ve won this award. It marks a shift in the public perception of Wordpress, from blog software to full-featured Content Management System (CMS).” (more…)

The BBC has launched a fresh opportunity for new and established digital agencies and producers in the North.

As the move to Salford in 2011 approaches, the BBC Children™s television department is looking to commission four projects that will total £500,000. @North will encourage and support the development and delivery of interactive content for children. (more…)

On Tuesday 17 November 2009, Leeds Metropolitan University’s Rose Bowl hosted the opportunity to meet Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer. The event was organised by Screen Yorkshire and supported by Innovation North, Game Republic and The Leeds Business School. (more…)

November has been a busy month for us moving over to the new Apple courses. The Snow 101 Support Essentials has become our current best seller, with November’s course full well in advance. If you haven’t already booked, we’ve got availibility in 2010. The first delivery of Snow 201 Server Essentials is happening on 30th November. We’ve also run the first couple of deliveries of the new Final Cut Pro 101 v7 course, welcoming back Chris Roberts to Old Broadcasting House. (more…)

Digital Week ended on a high with the DADI Awards 2009, held at the Royal Armouries in Leeds on Friday 13th November. The evening was a celebration of digital excellence across the nation.

The keynote speech was given by Tom Loosemore, Head of 4iP, who encouraged the present accessibility of online media including social platforms like Twitter and the UK favourite Facebook. A 3 course dinner followed that included wine, entertainment and the all important presentation of the awards. So who would be crowned the DADI? (more…)