CGI (NYSE: GIB) (TSX: GIB.A) will be leading a group comprising industry, academia, schools and members of the public in a week-long search for a glimpse into the future.
The focus on living and working in 2030 comes as part of Northumbrian Water Group’s (NWG) Innovation Festival, which is bringing together some of the world’s leading businesses to tackle major social and environmental challenges.
The festival aims to pull together the best innovative minds, using a design ‘sprint’ approach to explore and create new solutions to some of the biggest social and environmental challenges we face. Sprints are an interactive technique used to apply leading design thinking techniques to problem solving.
The CGI led sprint, aimed at bringing to life how we might live and work in the future, will be defined by drivers for change. The need to ensure water security in the face of climate change, population migration, political imperatives, regulatory market reforms and the role that technology will play in resolving these challenges will all factor in the sprint process.
Key ideas will be subjected to scrutiny from members of the public, and at the end of the week, the sprint’s findings will be presented to a gathering of industry experts and regulators.
Tara McGeehan, Senior Vice President, UK Energy, Utilities and Telecoms, CGI, said: “As a headline sponsor and industry leader, we are very much looking forward to delivering our session at the NWG Innovation Festival. CGI’s programme will focus on how we embrace new technologies to mitigate risks, harness new opportunities and secure the skills and capabilities required to thrive within the sector.”
Nigel Watson, Information Services Director, Northumbrian Water Group, said: “The development of smart technologies, as well as other advances, means we face the potential for a very different way of working and living by 2030. This is a fantastic opportunity for CGI to provide a glimpse into that future, to see how such changes may affect a broad range of things, including the way we deliver water services.”
Over 400 people are expected to attend each of the five days of the festival which takes place at Newcastle Racecourse from July 10 to July 14. Further information on the NWG Innovation Festival can be found on the website – https://innovationfestival.org