The first gathering of the UKFCI Associates was joined by around 20 informaticians from around the world. The aim was to make connections and share interests, skills and experiences from this broad range of digital roles which spanned front-line engagement, to AI and data science.

Some common themes emerged:

1. The breadth and depth of roles that associates represent

2. The value of connecting with like-minded people to reduce isolation and learn from each other

3. The ‘translation’ role that informaticians do, communicating about their work and engaging with colleagues from diverse backgrounds 

In response, we propose that

1. Associates will be invited to share a profile and short video to share on Discourse and the FCI website to build our people library and support networking
   
   

2. Convene a quarterly virtual gathering and set up a couple of complementary channels - a poll of possible platforms (WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Discourse) will go to associates shortly
   
   

3. The gatherings will take a deeper dive into associates’ projects and work with topic-specific briefings led by associates covering:
   • Topic or project introduction
   • Celebrating what’s worked well and how we got there
   • Mistakes made and challenges faced
   • Discussion

With that translation and role range in mind, we are looking to theme the first year and potential future sessions on simplifying key topics, where these topics are discussed and explained in a way that everyone can understand. This could be Ontologies Simplified, AI Simplified, UX Simplified – let us know your thoughts!

Lou Wilson, co-founder of the FCI Associate Network

Join the Discourse thread and view videos from Associate members