14 Nov 2011
One Day Soon: 12 months later…
When I was asked to share my thoughts about what’s changed in the way digital technology impacts our lives, one year on from making the film ‘One Day Soon’, I was at
THE CUBE. Not the ITV game show, but a co-working space founded by Araceli Camargo to create a physical oasis in east London that nourishes as well as houses the “would be entrepreneur”. I figured it was actually a pretty appropriate place to be thinking about this question…
In ‘One Day Soon’, Professor Michael Hulme talked about everyone living truly hybrid lives and that was crystal clear in our discussions at THE CUBE. I was there because Virgin Media has partnered with THE CUBE to bring state of the art connectivity, in a highly flexible commercial manner, right into the heart of an entrepreneurial community as part of the “Tech City” initiative. But we were talking about enabling not just a digital economy, but about creating a talent economy. And we explored how entrepreneurs could energise Virgin Media as much as Virgin Media could energise the “Cubers”, as they’ve started to be known.
I think James Murphy put his finger right on it when he noted in ‘One Day Soon’ that the beauty of the digital revolution was its inherent unpredictability. It struck me: will it increasingly be the role of entrepreneurs to inject the unexpected into larger corporations and if it is, how can we work together to make that happen much more easily?
But who would have predicted a year ago, when we filmed ‘One Day Soon’, that we would be in the economic crisis that we find ourselves in today? It’s days like today at THE CUBE that still strengthens my belief in digital technology and its role in tackling the challenges ahead, by giving an unprecedented global platform for the ideas and energy of talented people. So yes, I’m still optimistic about the future!
Over the last 12 months, my role at Virgin Media has changed and right now, I’m working an exciting new project that’s taken me down a slightly different path. But I’m fascinated by the conversation about the impact of digital on our lives and really looking forward to hearing about what other people have to say about it!
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