
Below are my current thoughts and feelings regarding development as a career.
I wanted to share them publicly because I feel like it is important to show that 
even though I have been a developer for a few years now, it is entirely normal
to feel a little deflated or burnt out.

Anyway, this is a kind of thoughts out loud post, but I feel like it would be 
good to hear other peoples feelings and thoughts as I think only good can come 
from showing some vulnerability from time to time and learning how to deal with
those feelings and thoughts.

I am, at this moment in time, the most successful I have ever been. Not just in
this career but any career I have ever had. But at the same time I have
never felt so lost in where to go or what to do next.

I know that I love being a developer, the people I have met and the growth that I
have experienced would not have been possible if I were not in this industry.

My trouble is, I get bored very easily, and I am always trying to better myself. 
I am competitive with myself, and I find it hard to stand still and appreciate 
the moment. Being content is not something I do very well and most recently I 
have found myself infuriated by the most little of things at work 
(not a good sign I don't think), and I think it partly comes down to always 
expecting more or better for myself.

My motivation at the moment seems to come and go in waves, one minute 
I am super into learning or doing something and the next I have no interest 
in doing it in the slightest. This could be burnout and or depression but in 
general, I don't feel depressed as everything else seems to be going really well.

A part of my issue is that I don't really want to work in web development forever, 
or work on products that I don't really care about or believe in. I would 
ultimately like to become an iOS engineer as I am an Apple fanboy deep down 
(haters gonna hate), but I feel so stuck in the sense that changing from web
developer to an iOS developer seems impossible, or at least it does for me at 
the moment.

Is it just me? Or does anyone else feel lost?

Feeling lost is not only for beginners


Ahead of her conference speech, [Katie Fisher](https://twitter.com/pandatwinkles), senior experience strategist at Norwich based, [The User Story](https://www.theuserstory.com/), talked to us about the importance of UX.

## Evidence and psychology

UX is psychology driven. Katie clarifies how user experience or rather, user experience research, is about using human behaviour and attitudes to inform design and the building of products.

> There is a reason behind anything that we design because we understand that there is a motivation behind what people want to achieve by using this website etc.

By speaking to users, Katie and her team try to understand the reasons behind why and how the public use websites. UX designers are approached by businesses that want to understand how people use their products. Without the data, the interviews and the science, it’s impossible to answer these pertinent questions.

## What the user wants

Starting from scratch Katie explained that she wants to comprehend people's problems when landing on a specific website. ”You’re not going to get very far if you’re always asking people something new” is just one of her discoveries.

Technology doesn’t always have to be new as far as the end user is concerned. It just has to work. “People thrive on familiarity, they have mental models for this, the design heuristic is recognition over recall.” You should always recognise something rather than remember. Our memory works like this. If consumers have to work too hard on your website - they’ll leave.

For example, “there are only five icons that are universally recognised by the user.” Introduce a new aspect and the public is puzzled. People don’t always recognise novelty and they’ll have to re-learn things and use a greater cognitive load. The user will have to use more thought to figure something out - they’ll leave the platform.

> To understand if people will understand something, use it and complete a task on the website, we’re looking at behaviour compared to the interview based analysis.

## Developers and UX

Katie feels that there is some misunderstanding about what people who work in UX are trying to do.

> The way that the User Story works is that whatever we’re designing from a really early stage we want to speak to the developers, who are going to have to build it, at this time.

This is the time for compromises. Discussions of time & cost are held during this period. ”This is the time to bring developers on board so they understand ‘we’re not throwing things over a fence at them.’”
“We always want to work with developers, even when they’re constructing the website, as we know that things will come up in the actual build ,that may be either design or the data driven that doesn’t quite work.” Traditionally, this type of collaboration hasn’t always been the focus of either dev’s or UX designer’s minds. Times have changed and all of The User Story projects are collaborative.

“Though some developers aren’t used to having to collaborate, front end developers are better at this way of working than some back end engineers.” Explanations from UX designers can clarify the process. Sharing snippets and video clips is an important step in the collaborative procedure.

## Learn more about UX

If you want to discover more about UX, users and the importance of understanding how and why websites work - catch up with Katie’s session at [nor(DEV):con on 17 June at 13.30 - Your users don’t care.](https://nor.dev/con).


Devs, design & users


nor(DEV): was founded 9 years ago by local software engineer, Paul Grenyer, and we thought it was important to kick off our interviews with speakers and sponsors by talking to him and discovering more about the roots of the conference.

## Background notes

Back in the dark ages, when working in London as a programmer, Paul joined the [ACCU](https://accu.org/) and appreciated that he benefited from their conference and networking opportunities, he helped them set up local groups with speakers. He also used to attend [Extreme Tuesday](https://www.extremetuesday.com/), an Agile based group which acts as a forum for developers to chat and learn.

## A lively Norwich tech scene

On returning to Norwich Paul felt that this fine city could benefit from similar community based.enterprises and established some [Agile related activities](https://paulgrenyer.blogspot.com/2012/12/agile-east-anglia-short-history.html).

In 2012, Paul got together with John Fagan, Stephen Pengelly, Juliana Mayer & Seb Butcher, who, at that time, were involved in separate groups, and they formed [SyncNorwich](https://www.facebook.com/SyncNorwich/) which, from its inception, was an immediate success. After six months, though, Paul had itchy feet but worked with the team at establishing a conference in February 2013. Estimating that 40 would attend, to Paul’s delight 180 rolled up to the sadly defunct [Open](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEN_Norwich), the event was called Sync Conf.

## Norfolk Developers is born

Recognising the need for a forum for developers -

> “at that time we didn’t know how many tech people and companies there were in Norwich, [but knew that] there was a real appetite for tech in the city,”

Paul aligned with Dom Davis and Ben Taylor and set up nor(DEV): in 2013 of which the annual conference was an integral part, kicking off in 2014, with a healthy 250 attendance. Paul remained as the primary conference organiser until 2019 when he handed over the reins to Alex Scotton & Shaun Church.

## Reflecting on the conference

“Amusingly Paul made the comment, “your ego’s writing cheques your body can’t cash” (Top Gun) which is maybe, one of the reasons that the group has expanded so widely. As well as just addressing solely developer issues, the conference now has workshops, business talks and a whole host of related subjects. At its zenith the conference could boast an attendance of 640 people over 2.5 days. Activities for school children were also included where building and programming a robot was one of the stellar attractions.

## Where it’s going

Talking about the conference, Paul said,”The whole point of Norfolk Developers was to bring good quality technical content to Norfolk.” With world class speakers, engrossing talks and the networking opportunities for the tech community, it looks as if Paul’s ambition continues to be realised.

**We hope you’ll enjoy this year’s conference and look out for Paul’s speech which is the opening keynote on Thursday 16 June at 12.30pm.**


Where it all started


It’s just two months until the largest tech conference in the east - the Norfolk Developers’ conference - opens its doors. And what a collection of delights are in store for you.

As a result of the pandemic, we couldn’t hold this event in 2021. This year we are back with some very special speakers and workshops.

## Evergreen favourites

We have returning popular speakers, including Jim Marshall, who in 2020 wowed us with his drumming proficiency as well as his invigorating speech. This year Jim will be talking about leadership self awareness. The incomparable Dom Davis will entertain and enlighten us with a talk on the Andromeda strain. And another popular returnee, Paul Grenyer, will divulge the conference origins and why it’s so important for the east of England and the UK’s tech sector.

## New stars

We’re also delighted to introduce a few newbies to our platform. Former software engineer, and current Mindset coach, Richard Donovan, will explain the importance of de-stressing and confidence building and how developers can and should look after their mental health. The User Story’s Katie Fisher will be highlighting the importance of listening to clients through UX.

Watch out for some fascinating talks on crypto, ethereum and Web 3, including a tasty explanation on Blockchain from Cambridge University Bitcoin society.

## Tech in the east

To put the importance of the Norfolk Developers’ conference into context, the 2021 [Tech Nation Report](https://technation.io/report2021/) stated that 2020 figures revealed that Norwich ranks 13th in the UK and can boast £27m investment in its tech sector. Taking the east of England as a whole, the east recorded a £220b investment.in 2020.

## Even more

Up until the conference itself we’ll be running a series of interviews with speakers and, of course, our wonderful sponsors.

Tickets are going fast but you have until 16 May to grab our Early Bird ticket.

Check out our Twitter feed, [@NorfolkDev](https://twitter.com/NorfolkDev), for further information. To chat with some of our members, take a look at our Discord channel, or catch up with some of the talks we hosted right through the pandemic on You Tube.

We’re really looking forward to welcoming you all, in person, on 16-17 June at Norwich’s King Centre.

### [Get your tickets now!](https://ti.to/norfolkdevelopers/nordevcon-22)


Norfolk Developers’ Conference 2022 June 16-17


Most job specifications deliver poor results. Why?
Below are my two top tips on how to put yourself in the lead and beat the competition. 

## 1. Know what you need from an applicant and why you need it. 

How much thought have you given it? Have you had conversations with other stakeholders and advisors to make sure you’re all singing from the same hymn sheet? Have you defined it?  Have you agreed on it?

If you don’t have a distinct idea before your hiring process starts how can you ask the right questions?  Worse still what if you hire someone but you explained a different job to the one they end up doing, and they either can’t do it effectively, or they quit! 

Perhaps you fix the problem early and just waste the first batch of CVs.  Maybe you conduct multiple interviews before finding out everyone is not on the same page, and more time is wasted.  But perhaps worst of all you actually find and interview that Unicorn Poo candidate, but your lack of preparation leads to messy interviews and delays in decision making. Whilst you are scrabbling around to pick up the pieces your perfect candidate decides they are better than this and pull out. Or your rivals swooped in and steal them from under your nose.  

You’ve wasted time and money.  Your employee brand suffers due to poor candidate experience. Hiring managers grow frustrated because their input is bearing no fruit. And if you used recruitment agencies the good agencies have flagged you as a bit of a timewaster.  

So how do you avoid these pitfalls, and what should you do before you write your spec?

- Speak to all decision makers and ensure agreement on the “must haves”
- Gather ideas on the “nice to haves” too
- Write down clearly defined requirements making sure that the must haves are genuinely 100% required
- Once you have it black and white run it past those same decision makers again for final approval. 

Now you’re ready for part 2!

## 2. Know what people want and what you offer

I recently spoke to a CTO who puts together a fantastic job spec, who said “For me it’s simple, I just try to include everything I would want to know”.  If you take just one thing away from this article, make it that.

So ask yourself  “What would I want to know? What could my future employees want?  Why would they want to work here? What can we offer them?”.

That’s what attracts people. 

Start with the basics, the stuff in the benefits package.  Holiday days, remote working, location, flexibility, salary (if you aren’t including salary, ask yourself why.  Many people will never apply if you aren’t including it). 

But that’s easy, now the real work starts. What separates you from the rest. 

Think about your culture. What really keeps your employees engaged (protip:  It’s probably not the free tea and coffee!).  The best question to ask yourself is “what would the employees say they like about working here?”

- Are you the biggest brand? Or have the highest quality products?
- Are you the fastest growing in your sector? Or most stable?
- Are engineers encouraged to create high quality solutions that are only shipped when they are ready?
- What is exciting about your product?  Is it known by the person on the street? Is it an exciting area of tech?
- Are you investing heavily in to R&D?  Or taking existing products to the next level?
- Have you recently won new major clients? Are your current clients well known?
- If you’re a startup, what experience does senior management have in startup success? What’s the funding situation?  Share options? How much runway do you have?
- Do you provide training budgets, or send your engineers to conferences?
- Perhaps one of your senior team is a world renowned authority?
- Have you won employer awards?
- Do you invest in the latest tech?
- Are employees given autonomy to solve problems their own way?
- Do you have social events?
- Do you have examples of positive structural changes based on employee feedback?
- Are you award winning?
- Career progression?  (Make sure to talk about your success stories in interview, it makes it real)
- Flexible hours and remote working?
- General employee happiness?  Can you back it up with a low staff turnover?
- Unusual benefits, like personal development days, or flexible benefits, gym memberships, free fruit  (okay fine, you can talk about free tea and coffee, but only if you have a proper coffee machine… giving people a kettle and a jar of Nescafe doesn’t count, sorry).

Sure healthcare and life insurance are nice.  But it’s the rest of it that matters. ASK PEOPLE who are already doing the job what they like about it (and what you can do to improve).  Once you’ve discovered what makes your current employees excited to come in to work, shout about it!

Tell stories that back up what you are saying, and don’t be afraid to use facts and figures.

Now you are ready to write a better job specification, and every stage of your candidate pipeline will thank you for it. 

Oh, and before I forget, if you’re hiring in to Embedded Software, C or C++ spaces, you can find Sheridan on [The Scoop](https://recruiters.thescoop.co.uk/sheridan-halls).


The 2 things you need to know before writing a job specification (and how to use them)


In a recent interview with [Alpha Inclusion & Communication’s](http://alphaic.co.uk/), Amy Eleftheriades, the importance of LEGO as a means of reducing stress was explored. As so many Norfolk Developers appear to be mildly obsessed with these vibrantly coloured building objects we decided to look at the roots of their passion.

Originally a qualified teacher, Amy also has experience of working in a residential school and has always worked with young people and adults who have problems with communication. She has also spent time in Brazil working with children and exploring means of enhancing their communication skills. 

While teaching, Amy learned about LEGO based therapy that was used in California to promote and encourage communication for those on the autistic spectrum. Following on from this training, Amy quickly appreciated that LEGO has a lot to offer anyone trying to build teamwork skills as well as enhancing communication development. Amy fully believes that “LEGO is a great tool for a logical thinker.” This has led her to apply her LEGO skills to both adults and children.

![The team went on to use their LEGO experience in their workplace.](/static/images/pages/posts/2021-03-22-looking-at-lego/communication-workshops-at-alphaic.jpg)

She’s also shared her knowledge with a group of IT professionals, “Originally, it was incredible to watch these adults behaving in a very similar way in terms of mis-communication” The team went on to use their LEGO experience in their workplace. This prowess has helped Amy in the field of mental health, many adults, find LEGO a useful way of winding down - relieving stress.

## Bussing Blocks

One of the most ingenious tools used by Amy is the block bus - a converted vehicle no less. The bus is filled with all types of games and LEGO to encourage communication and therapy, this resource is beneficial to all.

Sadly, as a result of the pandemic, Alpha Inclusion’s block bus is resting but the team still carry out their training work via - you’ve guessed it, Zoom. But the company has been on a mission to source tablets and other resources  to continue its valuable work. As a Social Enterprise, funds are always tight but Norfolk Developers’ Neil Carroll has come to the rescue by advising what equipment and tech setup was needed to improve the facilities so that clients can still use the block bus and be Covid safe.

## LEGO & Developers

We also talked to Nor Dev’s Dom Davis about why so many devs love LEGO. He agreed that LEGO definitely helps with problem solving, something that most have to do in their daily coding lives, and he added: “this is a creative process but one that doesn’t require a specific skill set, but for painting, drawing or woodwork you have to have a definite skill.”  And musing about the subject, Dom added, “with LEGO you have a predefined set of components that can be combined and with programming you also have a predefined set of components that you have to put together in an interesting way - this does require a skill.” But with some advanced LEGO you will need a skill, a Bugatti hyper realistic model is a point in question. Dom also mentioned that some with dyslexia problems can also flourish with making LEGO constructions, and gain a sense of achievement that may be lacking in other facets of their lives. During his childhood Dom occupied himself with making LEGO models and he has been constructing since he was 4 years old. 

![Dom Davis at NorDevCon2020 with Alpha Inclusion & Communication.](/static/images/pages/posts/2021-03-22-looking-at-lego/dom-davis-and-alphaic-at-nordevcon-2020.jpg)

And, Tom Haczewski of [The User Story](https://www.theuserstory.com/), is another LEGO enthusiast. He also recognises the importance of using the models in helping those with communication problems. Tom also speculated that LEGO might fill the niche in a programmer's brain that wants to build things. “They are pre dispositioned to build things, as a developer everything you do is about building things from little bits to make a larger construction.” 

## Unwinding through construction

Many Devs also use LEGO to unwind, they can take time away from the screen and find satisfaction in physically constructing something. Rockets, model towns, even pink ‘girl LEGO’ can all be made and there are many levels of technical ability to suit even the most demanding of LEGO builders - the range is huge. There is even a LEGO mindstorm, which is programmable.   

Dom also suggested that one of the many reasons programmers enjoy unwinding by constructing is that “with LEGO I use the same bits of my programmer brain but not in such an intense way.” Even looking for a missing piece of LEGO entails a logical process, but Dom does feel that the building aspect is cognitively intense whereas the search for missing pieces can prove to be cathartic. Over a week Dom can indulge his passion for up to “tens of hours.” He also stressed that this is a wonderful way of engaging with his children.

![Dom Davis demonstrates LEGO Mindstorm Spirograph.](/static/images/pages/posts/2021-03-22-looking-at-lego/dom-davis-demonstrates-lego-mindstorm-spirograph.jpg)

## The spectrum

It is widely recognised that many children on the autistic spectrum excel at coding. Carrying this skill forward to adulthood helps them find their place in a world that’s often very confusing and noisy. Talking about this to Tom, he suggested that “many on the spectrum like order and predictability and LEGO gives people the ability to be creative through using a specific set of parameters ” 

Tom also agreed with Dom that LEGO does act as a tool for relieving stress. “By following the LEGO instructions, you have to concentrate on these and then your mind is diverted from some of the problems you mightn’t necessarily want to think about.”

LEGO isn’t just a toy or plaything, it really can enrich and enhance your life..

***

Amy Eleftheriades joined us last week to discuss Emotional Regulation and her Top Tips for being ok. Catch it all on the
YouTubes, and don't forget to give us a like and subscribe whilst you're there 😉

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Looking at LEGO


## A community, for the community, by the community. That's the philosophy!

I'd like to take some time to talk about this. To get the ideas out there and share the aspiration with the community.

It's been said before, but it bears repeating: When Shaun and I grabbed the reins from Paul it was in ignorance, it took us some time to get up to speed and the Conference was a much needed deadline and a baptism of fire. It served as a very quick introduction to sourcing talks and organising events for the community.

It was stressful, but unbelievably rewarding! The feedback we received and seeing everyone, together, exchanging their stories and experience was great. The network that this community creates is phenomenal and immensely powerful, not only bringing together people working in the industry to help and learn from each other, but also inspiring those cursed with the ever present [impostor syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome) to take the leap and apply for both their first role and their next!

We followed that into lockdown with another learning exercise: Virtual Events. In 2020 we've been physically distanced but we have aspired not to be socially distanced, ensuring that no-one was too far away from help, support, or a friendly face. Increasingly over the course of 2020 it became clear that Norfolk Developers could not only serve as a place to exchange knowledge but also be the watercooler around which an increasingly isolated community could come together.

Over the course of this year our idea to make the community more and more decentralised has taken fruition!

Looking forward to how we get there, you may have noticed the @nordev-event-bot yelling occasionally on Discord. Or, the fairly pre-formatted Social Media posts? We have been making strides towards the automations required.

![Let's Go Build a Bot](/static/images/pages/posts/2021-02-15-decentralise-all-the-things/lets-go-build-a-bot.jpg)

Dom spent January’s #WednesdayStreams building the foundation of @nordev-event-bot#v2. This was extended into February to kick off 2021 with a focus.

Let's build those Tools together!

Behind @nordev-event-bot is some software driving the social media posts and the bot’s occasional yells. It also holds a catalogue of our events and a schedule for posting about them. It’s a foundation. Next we need a Member system and a way of enabling those members to subscribe to custom notifications and publishing their own events. Seen something that interests you? We want you to have the autonomy and tools to bring it to the wider community.

### TL;DR: We're increasingly moving toward a self organising community. We're building the tools we need; enabling any member of the community to add an event to the calendar and automatically publishing to social channels.


Decentralise all the things!


Festive Tidings to you, one and all!

2020 has been a tough year for everyone, and one that has tested the very technology on which we rely, and the software we build. Norfolk Developers has weathered the pandemic with the mantra:

> Physically distant, not socially

Our Virtual Social Club has been a bastion for some, and a significant chunk of my life since March. On behalf of the committee and myself I’d like to say a massive thank you to all those who have contributed to the community throughout 2020. The Virtual Social Club will continue throughout December including [a Christmas](https://www.meetup.com/Norfolk-Developers-NorDev/events/pfdncsybcqbhc/) and [New Years Day](https://www.meetup.com/Norfolk-Developers-NorDev/events/pfdncsycccbcb/) special hosted by Dom Davis. All are welcome.

We’ve also run a huge number of virtual tech events this year on subjects ranging from Testing to Git, Data Science to Policing, and more. We’ve learned a tonne about streaming and virtual events and the remote aspect of the audience means Norfolk Developers has gone truly global with attendees from around the world.

On top of this we’ve introduced our regular Lean Coffee discussions, and the Wednesday Streams, where our members build something live on YouTube every month. We’ve already seen projects in [Laravel](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc8-tQY65nvVoYQcZhnRXZQSUmfsW-0_S), [Blitz.js](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc8-tQY65nvWAxfHamYQE9fhMabRkhMnL) and [Statamic](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc8-tQY65nvVBgHax3em4ywCzl4HVx5Qp), and **in January we’re continuing with GoLang.**

![#WednesdayStreams with Norfolk Developers](/static/images/pages/posts/2020-12-21-2020-retrospective-and-thanks/wednesday-streams-hero.jpg)

All this has been backed by our [Discord](https://discord.com/invite/WQwrYrS) server which opened its doors in February as a place for NorDevCon attendees to chat, and for staff to relay messages. When the Lockdown was announced in March we saw messaging increase substantially and we knew it was going to be a valuable resource, but who knew it would be so bustling with conversation over a wide range of topics, both tech and non-tech.

As for NorDevCon, wow, what an experience! For Shaun and I it was truly a baptism of fire having taken over from Paul in October. Thank you to the Speakers from across the UK and globe, who joined us to share their wisdom, exploits and stories. And thank you to the community for attending and your understanding at the lack of refreshments 😃. And to our sponsors as well ❤️, without whom Norfolk Developers wouldn’t exist!

Of course, it wouldn’t be 2020 without bad news. **In August we made the sad decision to cancel NorDevCon 2021**. Not only was this a blow to the community, but it was a massive blow to our finances. The conference is the sole source of income for Norfolk Developers and it is how we fund events and expenses throughout the year. The future of Norfolk Developers was looking bleak.

Thankfully the community stepped up.

They requested we open a [Patreon page](https://www.patreon.com/NorfolkDev) and their support so far has been staggering! We now have 16 Patrons, without whom NorDev would’ve likely been forced into closure. Our heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you.

[The User Story](https://www.theuserstory.com/) also stepped up and became our first Corporate Sponsor. They got our finances out of the red and, along with our Patrons, will help keep the lights on this winter.

We decided everyone deserves a rest in December (the Zoom fatigue is real!) and our last event of the year was a [relaxed exploration of The Webb Telescope](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ExIJzUQMJY). **It was incredible, well worth a catchup on YouTube if you missed it!** We’re still about though, so head on over to [Discord](https://discord.com/invite/WQwrYrS) if you want a chat, or join Dom on the Social Club!

Who knows what 2021 has to bring, but the NorDev calendar is already filling up. We’ll be back again with a vengeance in January, but until then stay safe, and be physically distant, not socially distant.

### TL;DR: What a year! Thank you! Really, we mean it. I look forward to seeing what you all create in 2021 and seeing you all at our first event next year.

2020: Retrospective and Thanks!


### Norfolk County Council’s (NCC)  Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) is in the news and Norfolk Developers recently had a chat with Kate de Vries,an  NCC Economic Development officer and Kurt Frary, Deputy Director of the Information Management and Technology (IMT) dept, CTO and Chair Socitm (East) to learn more.

## The background.

Kate is a passionate advocate of this technology and she explained the network’s beginnings.

> “The project started from a local community venture in 2018. Norfolk has a thriving tech community and this is evidenced from the annual Tech Nation reports. Together with Paul Foster from Microsoft, a team approached the council and this started the ball rolling with a gateway to be placed on County Hall.”

Once the local community put the idea to Kurt in the IMT department he became an enthusiast and saw that the Internet of Things, (IoT) had masses of potential for Norfolk and he could also see how far behind Europe we were and needed to catch up by using this cost effective technology.  This was when NCC decided to work in partnership with Suffolk Council and gained financial backing from the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership. £440,400 was the sum awarded in 2019.

![](/static/images/pages/posts/2020-11-25-the-best-connected-county-in-the-uk/new-anglia-lep-innovation-network.jpeg)

## What is LoRaWAN?

Launched in Norfolk in September 2020, the Norfolk and Suffolk Innovation network is the largest free to use LoRaWAN in the UK. This ambitious project aims to connect LoRaWAN with 220 gateways, 110 in Norfolk and 110 in Suffolk.

And it’s not simply the network itself that’s important, the sensors that are connected to LoRaWAN play a crucial part in improving connectivity throughout Norfolk. These are the ‘things’ that comprise the IoT. The sensors collect data in a variety of situations, that data is fed into LoRaWAN where it can be monitored, assessed, managed and reported.

Working in partnership with Capita, the company has supplied Norfolk with 130 gateways in order to speed up the council's IoT. And, in February 2020, Capita received a £6 million contract to upgrade Norfolk’s fragmented network to full fibre connectivity.

When asked about the project, Kurt Frary said, “it’s going to be better than we ever thought.” There are two main facets to the project, the first of which is getting the innovation project out and about across Norfolk and Suffolk and we already have 50 gateways across Norfolk alone”.

“Ultimately this project will allow us to use IoT devices/sensors wherever you go in the counties.”

“The second part of the project is expanding the use of the network. It’s not just for the county council’s use, it’s for the public to use, for businesses, and start-ups if people want to innovate.”

## "Practical applications"

Kurt went on to explain that one very vital use of the technology can be applied to the perennial problem of gritting the roads and making sure the actual grit can be deployed on time and where necessary.

As he said, “Before the introduction of the network, NCC normally had sensors/weather stations around the county, they cost around £30,000- they tell you the temperature and give out a whole plethora of scientific  information.”

“However, the sensors that we’re now using as a result of the IoT innovation network cost about £120. So where previously we had five or six of the expensive sensors around the county, we can put five in a single area costing us £hundreds rather than £thousands.”

## Local tech involvement


Local tech company, Uniotec, deployed a number of bespoke sensors around Great Yarmouth to measure the road surface temperature. The firm’s dev team created a visualisation platform that gives realtime analysis of road temperatures together with an API that feeds both metadata and accurate road temperatures to NCC.

> As a result of this we’ve been able to double the data we’re receiving at a marginal cost. Interestingly the data we’re getting from the cheaper sensors measures up to the previous information from the expensive sensors.

And with over 6,200 miles of road across the county that need monitoring the innovation network can produce savings of £8,000  per grit run as the information received from the sensors will be up to date and provide crucial information for when a road needs gritting.

<div class="iframe"><iframe width="768" height="432" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AiWyeG03t6w" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

## Innovative uses

Kate is also excited about future possibilities for the project. “We aspire to support our local business communities, and we hope they’ll develop new possibilities that will be created in Norfolk and sold to the world.” NCC developed its own network, despite the existence of many fee charging others, because the council has always intended that the network is free to use.

Another use of the sensors is in the field of social care. The sensors are unobtrusive and can be  placed in a vulnerable person’s house to allow a carer to check remotely whether the client or relative has got up in the morning. By building up a record of usual activities a carer will easily be able to see if something unusual is happening.

## Endless possibilities

By talking to both Kurt and Kate it’s easy to see that the possibilities for this project are immense. Local agricultural machinery supplier, Ben Burgess, uses the field weather station sensors to monitor the effect of weather conditions on crops. The data is fed into the network and gives a farmer an accurate and contemporaneous record helping the agricultural industry create risk models  for potential diseases. This practice has already cut down the use of chemical sprays and fungicides.

<div class="iframe"><iframe width="768" height="432" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P8GEkm_jMo0" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

## Doing differently

Kurt highlighted how, by using a LoRaWAN on other projects can save money. Uniotec has also worked with NCC at Gressenhall museum. As the museum is outside it’s difficult to monitor exhibit popularity, how long does the public stay at the museum, and numerous related questions. NCC installed a LoRaWAN GPS tracker to be used by the staff and the general public in a bid to answer these questions.

Talking about the network Kurt stressed, “the joy about this project  is that the sensors are cheap - very cheap and easy to use.”  He added that “the network is about small packets of data, you can’t use the network to make calls, even though it’s radio, or browse the internet. You can collect a lot of data from small centres that send different pieces of information.”

The limitless potential of LoRaWAN using the IoT marks a new era of innovation across Norfolk. And, this fits in well with NCC’s ambition to improve its services through the use of technology.

The best connected rural county in the UK - Norfolk


## We've been exploring a range of new formats with our community, in part this has come with the new virtual requirements but it also comes as part of a drive to make our events more accessible and engaging. We're here announcing one of those new formats today:

Norfolk Developers would like to explore the stacks that drive our fine county. We’d like to explore your process and
how you go from A to B.

In short, we’re looking at how you:

- Analyse business/user requirements & translate those into user stories (or similar)
- Project manage the delivery of those requirements
- Deliver them
- And, Test/QA & gather feedback

The format for this will be a 15min lightning talks and we invite organisations (or makers) to join us and talk us
through their process. We'll invite 2-3 organisations to each event, and will then bring them together at the end as a
panel for Q&A.

These events will (can) also tie directly into a directory we will establish here, where we will list those
organisations and the stack they use.

## Suggested Talking Points

- What tools and/or methods do you use to gather user requirements?
  - Do you have “user groups”?
  - Regular meetings with customers?
  - Accept enhancement requests via GitHub, or with a product like Uservoice?
  - Dogfooding?
- What tools and/or methods do you use to translate user requirements into actions or user stories? And what methods do you use to prioritize these?
  - Regular meetings with account managers, support teams, or tech teams to explore user requirements, and or their own requests?
- What tools and/or methods do you use to manage the delivery?
  - Are you using PM tools (e.g. Jira, Trello etc)?
  - Methodologies like:- Agile, Scrum, Shape Up?
  - What aspects of the methodology do you find work best, and, perhaps what do you think is unique about your own version?
  - Is your team remote? Office based? Are you using standups?
- How are you delivering?
  - What’s your tech stack? (from back to front, or from schematic to consumer hardware)
  - What’s your local dev environment look like?
  - Are you using a UAT or staging environment?
  - VMs, Docker, Kubernetes?
  - Monorepo? Private package repositories?
  - Continuous Integration, Continuous deployment?
  - What’s your strategy for deployments (release branches, tagging, artifacts?)
- How are you testing, gathering QAs, or user feedback
  - This may be answered in part within the first question if relevant.
  - Do you operate unit, feature, e2e, or integration tests?
  - Live Chat for Customers?
  - Metrics (New Relic etc)

## Join Us?

If you're an organisation (or maker) and would like to show us your process and the tools of your trade please get in
touch, we'll get you booked into the next cohort.

<p>
  <a href="/static/images/pages/posts/2020-10-04-introducing-whats-the-stack/norfolk-developers-whats-the-stack.pdf" download>
    Download the PDF
  </a>
  <br />
  <a href="mailto:alex@norfolkdevelopers.com">
    Email Alex
  </a>
</p>



/posts