i-UG Conference Midlands 2024

Tea, coffee & refreshments including pastries and our signature bacon butties will be served in the Expo Hall, in the Mander's Suite.  

Please take the time to speak with our generous sponsors who helped fund today's event.

 

Mike and the Board of i-UG will combine to outline the ‘State of the Nation’ for i-UG at this time,

Mike will open by covering all the points relating to general activity of the group giving an update on the progress of our Education programme.  Here he will be joined by Colin Spofford to cover of some more detail on the Education Programme, how it came about and where it could go. ?? – Senior Lecturer on Computing Science at University of Wolverhampton –will further underline where we are at with the current, running course and where he (and the University) want to get to with this initiative... and we might get the odd Student to comment on the course so far...

Steve Cast will then join us to cover the i-UG general marketing improvements, the increased membership benefits being introduced including access to the COMMON USA library and will cover the up-coming events for 2025.

To complete the set, Steve (Brad) Bradshaw will cover off the technical side with particular attention to how we are using our POWER 9 and how YOU can use it too – including using it for Open Source education. Brad also wants to remind us about CEAC and how we engage.

Finishing off, Mike will introduce the main Keynote speaker – ?? – and give a flavour for the days Conference. We’ll see you there.

Tea, coffee and refreshments will be served in the Expo Hall, in the Mander's Suite.  

Please take the time to speak with our generous sponsors who helped fund today's event.

Join Richard on a transformative journey as he explores secure and resilient Cloud solutions purpose-built for the IBM i.

How can you unlock the modern capabilities of IBM Power Systems without introducing the complexity and risk while driving positive business outcomes?

1. DRaaS, Db2 Mirror, and HA Solutions Delivering Uptime Results
2. Hybrid Cloud Architecture: Enhancing resiliency, security, and compliance
3. Three reasons Why Cloud Computing is Important for Businesses

Bonus - 1 BIG reason you may have never considered.

SQL is not just for the database. Scott and Tim will leverage SQL to solve real issues and problems. Lots of live Demos and including how SQL is fueling Navigator. Be ready to cast your vote at the end of the session to proclaim the winner of this incredible duel.

Web Development Workshop

Create your own website and serve it on the IBM i.

In this 3-session workshop, Andy will show you how you can create your own website and get it up and running on the IBM i.

You do not need any previous experience of web design and web development.

This workshop is presented by Andy Youens, who has just been accepted by Microsoft as a Verified Educator for Python programming & Web development.

To participate in this workshop, you will need a laptop that can access external web sites. You will not be required to install any software on your laptop, but we will require you to have a Microsoft or Google account to follow the workshop and build your own website.

If you have any questions about the access you will need, please contact Andy directly at andy@formaserve.co.uk

Topics

Session 1:

Intro to Web & Web Development
Your first plunge into HTML 5
Use my project as a template

Session 2:
Use HTML elements to structure your website
Introduction to CSS

Session 3:
Publish your website
IBM i and Web serving

A buffet lunch will be served in the Expo Hall, in the Mander's Suite.  

Please take the time to speak with our generous sponsors who helped fund today's event.

Get your questions answered on the best interfaces for working with your IBM i and developing SQL. Both interfaces have continued to deliver new features on a regular basis. We will cover new features in both interfaces, live demos and answer your questions.

Steve Cast, IBM Champion, i-UG Marketing Director, COMMON Europe Treasurer, and technical entrepreneur will deliver this informative session.   
 
The session addresses the lessons learnt from a Proof of Concept to develop a chatbot using Watson X Assistant, with real word examples.    
 
Starting with an introduction to Watson X Assistant, Steve will progress on to explore the challenges faced.  This will include the successes and failures his team experienced along the way.  Key takeaways will be presented to help your learning.  Closing with conclusions and potential future directions, this session will be beneficial to anyone considering Watson X Assistant for their own needs. 
  
Come along to this session to see Watson X Assistant for yourself and benefit from the lessons learnt by Steve and his team.   

Web Development Workshop

Create your own website and serve it on the IBM i.

In this 3-session workshop, Andy will show you how you can create your own website and get it up and running on the IBM i.

You do not need any previous experience of web design and web development.

This workshop is presented by Andy Youens, who has just been accepted by Microsoft as a Verified Educator for Python programming & Web development.

To participate in this workshop, you will need a laptop that can access external web sites. You will not be required to install any software on your laptop, but we will require you to have a Microsoft or Google account to follow the workshop and build your own website.

If you have any questions about the access you will need, please contact Andy directly at andy@formaserve.co.uk

Topics

Session 1:

Intro to Web & Web Development
Your first plunge into HTML 5
Use my project as a template

Session 2:
Use HTML elements to structure your website
Introduction to CSS

Session 3:
Publish your website
IBM i and Web serving

Tea & coffee will be served in the Expo Hall, in the Mander's Suite.  

Please take the time to speak with our generous sponsors who helped fund today's event.

What's the latest in Db2 for i that you need to be aware of ?
In this session, Tim and Scott deliver an overview of some core technologies that are part of Db2 for i,
This includes a number of core features that everyone needs to be aware of and take advantage of.

Web Development Workshop

Create your own website and serve it on the IBM i.

In this 3-session workshop, Andy will show you how you can create your own website and get it up and running on the IBM i.

You do not need any previous experience of web design and web development.

This workshop is presented by Andy Youens, who has just been accepted by Microsoft as a Verified Educator for Python programming & Web development.

To participate in this workshop, you will need a laptop that can access external web sites. You will not be required to install any software on your laptop, but we will require you to have a Microsoft or Google account to follow the workshop and build your own website.

If you have any questions about the access you will need, please contact Andy directly at andy@formaserve.co.uk

Topics

Session 1:

Intro to Web & Web Development
Your first plunge into HTML 5
Use my project as a template

Session 2:
Use HTML elements to structure your website
Introduction to CSS

Session 3:
Publish your website
IBM i and Web serving

The IBM i team has been delivering new functions two times per year since 2010. New releases and technology refreshes deliver a broad range of function and sometimes the smallest line items can be easily missed. The IBM i team has reviewed the past releases/refreshes and have assembled some of their favourite hidden gems; things that you might have missed but should know. Everyone will leave with something new that will help them in their day to day work.

Learning Objectives:
1. Learn about some of the very useful but lesser known functions of IBM i.
2. Have fun with Tim, Scott & Steve