Displaced workforces can work remotely and at any time using cloud technologies and improved communications infrastructures to bring greater visibility and efficiencies to the way they work. In theory, this way of working should be welcomed by both employers and workers. So, what’s wrong with this picture? Well, companies are finding that remote working is suitable for ongoing day to day work; however, when it comes to fostering the sparks of creativity that drives innovation, ignites business transformation and improves team synergies, remote workforces struggle to come up with the goods.

In the highly competitive arena of business, the levels of creativity you have in the workplace can significantly affect your company’s chances of success – so much so that fostering a culture of creativity has been identified within the top five of CEOs’ concerns in research by Hult Business school. Therefore, presence is important to creativity within the workforce and equally, so is the space they congregate in and the digital tools that amplify the experience in the space. Click here to read the rest of this fascinating article by our Strategic Project Director, David Wilson, on LinkedIn. 

Steve Blyth’s career started in mechanical engineering. But after doing an apprenticeship he realised engineering wasn’t for him. He then worked in TV as an actor, tried his hand at modelling (“it lasted a week!”) and created special effects for films. This led him to get work at London Weekend Television in mechanical special effects, blowing up cars and working on programmes such as The Kenny Everett Television Show, Spitting Image and London’s Burning. After three years, aged 23, Steve went freelance and headed to the US to find work. A meeting at Universal Studios led to an opportunity to work on a film, but he’d had enough of creating fire effects for London’s Burning, so he turned it down. Little did he know at the time that the film was Backdraft. Steve sees this as his “biggest career crossroads faux pas.”

After returning to the UK, he formed Harris-Blyth with Ray Harris, producing high-quality pop-ups for exhibitions. There wasn’t a great deal of technology involved at this stage because it was pre-plasma display so it was more about problem-solving, quality of the build and execution. Tech began to creep into their offer, however, as flat panel displays became available – although it wasn’t particularly digital at this early stage. Harris-Blyth grew into a multinational concern, working on plenty of museum, branding and marketing projects. In 2007, Steve left to form his own company – then called Engage Production. The projects began to take on a more digital hue, and he worked with companies such as Candy & Candy and Adidas. Since then, the company (now Engage Works) has grown into the multinational it is today, with offices in London and Dubai and projects for the likes of EY, Accenture, Bloomberg and PWC.

Installation magazine’s feature on VR and AR posed some interesting questions. “As things stand today, integrators seem to be somewhat bemused [with the technology],” opined Installation feature writer Ian McMurray. “The technologies are potentially compelling – but what are the real-world applications from which they can derive profit? According to those operating in the VR/AR/MR market, the right thing to do is to keep an open mind.”

Our CEO Steve Blyth had this to say in response:  “There has to be a want to take this further.AV companies that are too arm’s length and traditional will be overtaken by more forward-thinking and pioneering adopters, designers and integrators. Don’t fear it – embrace it,” he laughs. “It is definitely not the modern equivalent of Betamax.” Click here to read the article in its entirety. 

Engage announced the official launch of CoCreate, its advanced collaboration software solution, at ISE 2018. Designed to take workplace collaboration to the next level, CoCreate brings content, data and ideas into a single, unique digital environment, accelerating the business process.

Engage exhibited on booth 10.N171 at the Great Britain and Northern Ireland Pavilion, where CoCreate was showcased alongside some of the company’s other innovative solutions and key projects. For more on this, see AV magazine’s news story, here.