Join fellow alumni for a joint UK alumni professional evening on digitalisation in the Turner Room at the British Council, 9 rue Constantine, 75007, Paris on Tuesday 26 September, 7-9pm. 

In recent years organisations are becoming more digitalised at an increasing pace. In one respect there is a natural momentum, being referred to as the 4th industrial revolution, resulting largely by our increased connectivity with each other and access to information via the internet. Governments are also providing incentives for all domains to move in this direction for various reasons, including increased employment and conversely more efficiency in areas where there are not enough skills available. Increasing connectivity brings many collaborative benefits, but also many challenges. 

Schedule
7.00pm   Opening Remarks by Katrina Drew (Warwick alumna)
7.10pm   Professional Services Industry Perspective by Catherine Lynch (Durham alumna)
7.30pm   Investment Perspective by Pierre-Yves Maurois (Warwick alumnus)
7.50pm   Workforce Evolution Perspective by Lizzie Sayer (Edinburgh alumna)
7.55pm   Debate/Q&A
8.00pm   Informal refreshments
9.00pm   Close 

This joint-alumni professional evening will consider cross-cutting perspectives of guest speakers:

Catherine Lynch (Durham University alumna)
A modern languages graduate from Durham and a Masters in Information Systems from Brighton University, Catherine began her career in London working for an IT consultancy and has a wide international experience of working with enterprise applications vendors in global roles. Now a content marketing specialist with a focus on the Professional Services and Media industries at German software vendor SAP, she creates thought leadership content on business challenges for these industries. Before joining SAP she was European Product Marketing Director at TIBCO Software with a focus on Business Process automation and has worked in global roles at other software vendors of CRM and change management solutions. Catherine will discuss how digital technologies are affecting the Professional Services industry, how firms can deliver knowledge based services through digital channels, how they can tap into global talent networks for resources and the impact on the workforce structure and revenue growth.

Pierre-Yves Maurois (Warwick University alumnus)
With an Msc in Economics & Finance from Warwick University (1995), Pierre-Yves Maurois has been involved in Financial Services for about 20 years with a focus on Risk Management. Working with consulting firms and software vendors he has led many engagements for banks, asset managers and insurance firms in many European countries. Very often at the limit of business and IT, he has seen the importance of data management grow over the years and follows the impact of digital transformation in financial services. Pierre-Yves is also involved with the Professional Risk Managers International Association (PRMIA) locally in Paris and as a Global Board Member. Pierre-Yves will discuss Transformation of investment - use of robot-advisors; Exploitation of users data - Big data ; Transformation of support function - HR, Finance in financial services.

Lizzie Sayer (Edinburgh University alumna)
Lizzie Sayer has an MA in French and Scandinavian Studies from the University of Edinburgh. Lizzie began her career as a public policy researcher in London, before moving into communications-oriented roles in the education and research sector. Now a communications officer at the International Social Science Council based at UNESCO in Paris, Lizzie works with social scientists to help them communicate their research and make a greater impact with audiences from civil society and policy. Lizzie recently managed the publication of the 2016 World Social Science Report, to which she contributed an article on the impact of automation and digital transformation for the future of work. Lizzie will discuss how digital technologies may affect the future workplace and future workers in different settings, and potential impacts for economic development and inequality at the global level.