Re:develop 2016

Originally posted on our ‘Base’ Medium account.
In September 2019, Base became Passenger.

On Friday 14th October we produced our third Re:develop, a digital technology conference, to an audience of over 200 developers and technology managers at the BIC. With talks ranging from agile software and lean production methodologies to moving applications into the cloud, the Re:Develop audience was left with a huge helping of useful take-aways.

Base help organisations design and build mobile app technology for smart cities, and are well known for having one of the largest open device labs in the UK. The free resource and our company’s commitment to grassroots support of the tech ecosystem, including staging Re:develop, have been a factor in Bournemouth’s well documented rise in profile of the region’s digital economy.

Re:develop was born in the summer of 2014, six months before the government-backed TechNation report was released, highlighting Bournemouth as one of 13 fast growing digital technology clusters in the UK. Developer Evangelist at Base, Jon Ginn, describes why we wanted to stage a digital technology conference in Bournemouth:

“We started Re:Develop three years ago with the aim of bringing the tech community here on the coast together to share experiences and make better digital products as a result. We wanted to catch the imagination of our own team and help them to continually improve by getting out of the studio for a day and expose them to new ways of working. We knew that doing that as a conference, where we could invite others to do the same, would help to build a sense of place in the community.”

With a host of speakers from household names such as IBM, The Guardian, Twilio, and the Government Digital Service over the last three years, Re:develop welcomes local talent to the stage too. Matt Northam, from digital agency RedWeb brought the 2016 conference to a close by sharing his take on the parallels between having a young family and his role as a developer.

It’s the mixture of technical insight with the human aspects of developing that make the event special. Every year we’ve learnt loads about how to deliver a conference that gives every attendee something they can take back to their team and use in their work. We find engaging speakers that understand how to enable others to get the best out of themselves, not just out of the technology tools.

With support from Bournemouth Council and FinTech giant JPMorgan, the annual gathering is helping to cement the region’s reputation for successfully attracting top digital talent away from London. As Re:develop begins to lose its status as a side project, the team are excited about its future. For now though, it’s back to the day job until planning for 2017 starts again in the new year.