Please note: Expression of Interest is now closed.
MyWorld is building an Advisory Board to guide our work. Below you will find some information about MyWorld’s mission, who we are looking for in this advisory group, and how they will interact with the programme.
What is MyWorld?
MyWorld is a five-year research and development (R&D) programme in creative technologies within the West of England region. Led by the University of Bristol in partnership with a consortium of twelve organisations, we are investing in research, new production facilities, skills training, future policy development, and funding competitions aimed at creative businesses.
Our aim? To grow the West of England’s global reputation as a centre of excellence for creative technology research, innovation and production.
Board Format
The Advisory Board will have ten members that will be asked to serve for 18 months, covering three meetings of the Advisory Board. At the end of this period, we will repeat this exercise, giving new voices a chance to contribute to MyWorld’s development. Members will be asked to volunteer to act as Chairperson ahead of the first meeting. In the case of multiple candidates, an initial Chair will be selected by a vote, with the volunteers abstaining.
Who are we looking for?
We are looking for people who are excited about our work but also happy to challenge us in order to help us grow. We would like Advisory Board members who can contribute to our thinking, strategy and business planning, ultimately helping to ensure we remain aligned with our core values of sustainable and inclusive ecosystem growth.
You don’t have to have worked on programmes like MyWorld or sat on an Advisory Board before. We will work with all successful candidates to ensure that they have the necessary support to make a full contribution to their role. We welcome people from inside and outside the technology and culture sector, from Bristol, Bath and beyond.
We welcome applications from people connected to large and small companies and organisations, academic institutions, community groups and freelancers.
Importantly, we hope to bring new perspectives to our projects and processes, which means people with different lived and professional experiences to us. For example, groups who are underrepresented in our sector, including disabled people, people of colour and LGBTQ+ people also including people from other regions outside of the West of England and the UK.
Whilst we hope that Advisory Board members will feel comfortable to bring their whole self to their work with us, we expect all members of our Board to consider inclusion in all aspects of what we do, and do not expect individuals to represent specific groups or demographics.
In particular, we are excited to hear from people who can help us with the following:
- Hold us to account
- Advise us
- Amplify our work
Hold us to account
“MyWorld’s vision is for the West of England to fulfil its potential as a world player in creative media production and technology.”
We invite the Advisory Board to hold us to account in achieving our vision of the future of the West of England’s creative tech economy.
We encourage people to ask us questions about the approach and purpose of the work we deliver and support, who benefits from that work, and what do those benefits look like?
Advise Us
MyWorld enables discovery, learning, and building. We are enthusiastic to continue our own learning journey as we develop the remaining years of this programme.
We invite Advisory Board members to share their expertise with us to improve our processes and help us to create new opportunities. This might mean that you share expertise in, for example, running complex programmes, research methods, developing, producing, demonstrating or exploiting a particular field of creative technology, or raising investment in the creative sector.
Amplify our work
MyWorld seeks to strengthen the creative ecosystem of Bristol and Bath. To do this, we need to amplify our work outside of the region, raising awareness of the great work, people and businesses of the West of England, building partnerships and connections with a wider network of people and organisations who can help us celebrate what we are doing.
What is happening in MyWorld right now?
After a challenging start-up year, characterised by lockdowns and energy crises, MyWorld is now coming towards the end of its first year of delivery and we’ve seen a huge amount of activity. Our teams are busy launching research and prototype opportunities and partnerships are being developed for large-scale collaborative projects. For more information about our recent work see our latest news page.
Three key challenges/questions we are working on right now are:
- How do we ensure our investments in research, development, facilities and training are aligned with future technology trends?
- How do we ensure that MyWorld can offer something of value to everyone?
- How can we ensure that MyWorld is representative of the West of England region?
- How do we ensure that MyWorld makes a lasting, positive impact on the West of England region?
What will I need to do?
The Advisory Board will meet twice each year at six monthly intervals. We expect the majority of meetings to take place via video call and to last about two hours in total.
As a Board Member, you’ll be sent an agenda in advance, which could contain topics proposed by Advisory Board members, the MyWorld Executive Board, or the MyWorld Senior Management team. During the meeting, we’ll ask you to share your thoughts and experience as part of a round table discussion on the topics. The meeting will be chaired to keep to time and ensure everyone has a chance to share their views.
What do I get?
Payment is available for members who:
- Are representing themselves and attending in their own time
- Work for a small-to-medium-sized enterprise (SME)
- Work for a registered charity
Members from larger organisations are asked to contribute their time at no cost to MyWorld.
A payment rate of £250 for a full working day to enable members to prepare before a meeting, attend the meeting and complete any actions afterwards, in line with the MyWorld policy.
What power will I have?
The Advisory Board has a key role in the MyWorld programme governance structure. Members are requested to ask questions and spark debate on key points of MyWorld’s delivery plans. Subsequent recommendations will be captured by a Board Secretary provided by the MyWorld Operations team and compiled into a report for the MyWorld Executive Board, the most senior level board within the programme, and the operationally focussed Senior Management Team (SMT). Advisory Board recommendations are intended to directly influence decision-making at both Executive Board and SMT. Likewise, Executive Board and SMT will feedback responses and requests for support or input on particular topics to the Advisory Board.
The Advisory Board will be presented with an update on programme delivery activity to date ahead of each meeting, plus a plan for forthcoming activity to ensure advice is informed by current information.
Process
Expressions of Interest closed noon on Tuesday 7 March 2023.
We will contact all candidates by 17:00 on Tuesday 14 March to let them know if they have been short-listed for an interview.
The appointment panel will consider how candidates might support us with accountability, advice and amplification on the strategies, delivery approaches, evaluation, and legacy of the MyWorld programme.
MyWorld will work with candidates to ensure their access needs are met during the recruitment process and will ensure access requirements do not factor in decision-making.
We welcome questions from anyone who is interested and would like to know more before they apply or would appreciate support with understanding how their transferable skills might apply to MyWorld.
Please email the MyWorld Operations Team at: info@myworld-creates.com
We will hold interviews with a mixed panel of MyWorld staff and partners by video on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 March. All interview questions will be shared with candidates in advance.
Those selected by the panel will be made an offer to accept a position on the Advisory Board of MyWorld by Friday 31 March