Independent technology consultancy Opencast has unveiled its talks for TechNExt – the annual celebration of the North East’s thriving technology sector.
More than 3,000 attendees are expected at the festival, which spans five days from June 16-20, and features events held across the region to spotlight the best tech businesses and talent the North East has to offer.
For its 2025 TechNExt sessions, Opencast will keep a sharp focus on the priorities and challenges faced by its clients in government and in healthcare. The company will host three sessions at its HQ at Hoults Yard Newcastle – one on Tuesday, June 17 and two on Wednesday, June 18. All sessions will also be live-streamed.
The opening session, from 11am-12pm on June 17, is ‘Doing More with Less’, a government-focused discussion featuring Hayley Addison, Deputy Director and Head of Payments at DWP Digital in conversation with David Sarginson, Opencast’s Head of Architecture and Engineering. Henry Rex, Opencast’s Government Relations Director moderates the discussion.
On Wednesday, June 18 (11am – 12pm), Opencast’s attention will turn to healthcare. ‘Making innovation happen in healthcare’, will explore how to turn promising innovation into real progress in the complex, high-stakes world of healthcare.
Healthcare experts on the panel include Gordon Cullum, Technology Director at Axiologik and Chief Architect at NHS England Screening, and Lisa Sewell, Director of Data and Informatics at North East & Yorkshire. Murray Ellender, GP and Head of UK Healthcare at Huma, moderates.
Opencast wraps its HQ sessions on the afternoon of Wednesday 18 (2pm – 3pm), with a senior-level panel discussion on skills in government. ‘Building Digital Capacity’, will share ideas and approaches for building capacity, drawing on Opencast’s recent report on digital skills to look at what works for government teams.
Moderated by Cate Kalson, Opencast’s Chief People and Operations Officer, the session will include contributions from Robert Craig, Chief Operations Officer at Skills Builder Partnership, Kara Kane, Head of Design, Test, Learn & Grow at the Cabinet Office and Sarah McMann, Chief Digital Product Officer at HMRC.
Welcoming June’s discussions programme, Opencast’s Chief Growth Officer Harry Armstrong said: “We’re delighted to be hosting TechNExt talks at our Newcastle HQ once again in 2025. For the third year in a row, we’ll be bringing together expert speakers from our partners in government and healthcare to discuss the issues that matter to these vital sectors for the North East and for the country as a whole.”
“We’ve designed our sessions for and with the people who work in and with government and healthcare organisations, as well as for those interested in learning more about their work. We’re delighted to be opening our doors to welcome people from the North East and from across the UK, to share solutions to the challenges that matter to them.
“A big thank you to all of our senior speakers from government and healthcare for joining us our 2025 TechNext sessions. I’m looking forward to hearing their contributions.”
As well as its three HQ sessions, two experts from the Opencast the team will talk at TechNEXT’s Data and AI Hub day at Catalyst Newcastle on Wednesday, June. 18
Director of Technology Strategy Gordon Murray and User Research Practice Lead Marianne O’Loughlin will lead a session on ‘AI Agents: opportunity and threats’. From 11.20-11.50am, Gordon and Marianne will highlight the challenges, risks and dependencies of new autonomous AI agents – and explore potential ways to ensure accuracy, transparency, security and ethical standards.
On the same day over at City Hall in Sunderland, Opencast will be at Tech Talent Live, the North East’s largest digital and tech careers fair, linking job seekers with top opportunities, training and pathways for the future.
Finally for the week, on Friday, June 20, Opencast will be supporting the second annual TechNExt School Challenge, being held this year at the Customs House in South Shields.
The Schools Challenge engages North East pupils in tech, supported by mentoring by tech employers across the region. In preparation for the challenge, Opencast Senior QA consultant Andy Burdis has mentored pupils from Elemore Hall School in County Durham – and Elemore will be one of the schools presenting their challenge on the day in South Shields.
It’s free to join all Opencast’s TechNext sessions – but registration online is essential, via bit.ly/4iX6ZVK. For more information on TechNExt 2025, visit technext.co.uk.