Businesses from across Lancashire are invited to join academics and students to find out more about digitalising their business for the future.

The event, the first held by the Entrepreneurship and Strategy department at Lancaster University Management School, will explore the ongoing digital transformation of society, and the impact this has on firms, leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship.

Dr Robert Demir, a digitalisation expert who is one of the event organisers, said: “This is a brand new event that is designed to bring the latest academic thinking together with the reality of business in practice and fresh student perspectives to thrash out the issue of digitalisation – what does it mean for business, what are the main drivers to adopt digital technologies and the benefits of embracing a digital approach to running a firm.

“We hope to use this interactive event to highlight the relevance of our new research and make sure that the businesses on our very doorstep have access to it. We don’t expect business leaders to read academic papers, so we hope to translate it into an accessible event that will offer a lot of handy advice and takeaways, based on examples from businesses across the world to help our county’s businesses best prepare for the future.”

Digitalisation is an elusive term and means different things for business firms and public organisations. The event will address the strategic opportunities and challenges of digitalisation for start-ups, entrepreneurial firms, established organisations and for public institutions.

“Organisations have different needs, challenges and resources, which is also reflected in their purpose and prospects. Digitalisation is not a trend - it’s a global transformation of the way we live our lives, socialise and how we work. That’s why we need to take it seriously,” Dr Demir added.

The event has attracted several high-profile speakers in the region with specific interest in the challenges and opportunities of digitalisation and the future of the firm. Speakers include David Durnford, CEO of Fat Media Group; Chris Arnold, founder and CEO of World Merit; Michael Gibson, Chair of Digital Lancashire and owner of Miralis Data, as well as academics from Lancaster University Management School.

The event is free to attend and will take place between 4.30pm and 8.15pm on Thursday 11 October at the conference centre in Bowland Hall, Lancaster University. To find out more or to register your place to attend, visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/digitalising-businesses-for-the-future-tickets-49140685112

The Entrepreneurship and Strategy department offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the fields of Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Innovation, and International Business. The department also offers specialised courses to organisations and advises and supports many SMEs as well as large organisations in the UK and internationally in their strategy development process. It has recently expanded its area of expertise to Leadership and is one of the UK’s most competitive teaching and research institutions in these disciplines.

For more information on the department’s teaching and research activities, visit: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/lums/our-departments/entrepreneurship-and-strategy/

Lancaster University is among the best research-intensive universities in the UK. It ranks among the top 10 in all three major national league tables: 6th in The Times & Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019, 8th in The Complete University Guide 2019 and 9th in The Guardian University Guide 2019. The Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy has a global reputation for teaching Corporate Strategy. In 2018, the course ranked No. 1 in the Financial Times World MBA Ranking for the third time.