Darwin Lee

If you missed our latest blog about tendering to win business, you can catch a little synopsis right here. Or head on over to the blog for the full article. https://lnkd.in/eGmPBkWQ _____ Rugged Data, for faster, smarter work.

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Software Engineering F&*K Up Behind Passport eGate failure in all UK Airports. David Farley, who is an authority in Software Engineering and an award winning author, questions how a critical system like eGates in all UK Air ports can go down for more than 4 hours due to a WiFi failure. 😳 Then he explains the possible real root cause behind this failure. A case study for anyone interested in or developing software for critical systems https://bit.ly/4aIHKTg

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I do love a good stat. Of the 654,000 interactions on our live platform last week, 40,800 were over our API. If your supplier doesn't offer open APIs included in the base product, and you're thinking "meh maybe we don't need em" then you are stuck in legacy la la land. API's bring the efficiency and interaction products need in a modern adaptive platform. That 1992 CSV FTP Ping Pong you are pretending works fine will bite you on the behind one day. If you'd like to learn more about how Rubixx interacts with third party systems, slide in my DMs or ask one of our clients who used to have whatever you have now.

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The situation with Birmingham City Council’s Oracle ERP system bears similarities to the infamous Horizon software scandal with the UK Post Office. In both cases, flawed IT systems led to significant financial discrepancies and hardship. The Horizon system wrongly accused Post Office workers of theft, leading to wrongful prosecutions and ruined lives. Similarly, the Oracle ERP’s failure has caused severe financial mismanagement at the council, requiring manual corrections and leading to a loss of trust in the system. Both scenarios highlight the catastrophic impact of deploying inadequate IT solutions without robust testing and validation. Furthermore for a system to be able to assign transactions to the wrong year highlights another important factor, this system does not reconcile, if it did then this problem would have been raised the very first month when reconciling the period end would not reconcile :-( I find this worrying. The steps to bookkeeping and accounting must be achieved to provide 100% CoA. Shuddering actually.

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React Trigger Beacons are part of the React Trigger System, delivering accessible access to information, from React Accessibility ltd Trigger Beacons support and compliment React equipped talking digital bus stop displays (https://lnkd.in/dSV_Z_YU), with the same free React Access Trigger App providing in-phone proximity alert to bus stops, supporting orientation and wayfinding, with direct secure linkage to bus stop departures with discrete in-phone audio and visual. The React Access Trigger System removes barriers to finding and obtaining information, reducing the uncertainty and stress that public transport can induce. Video Descrption: 2 in 1 video of the React Access Trigger App & Beacon delivering automatic proximity triggered, accessible audio and video information within a person’s phone. The video on the left shows a person walking along the pavement towards a bus stop in the distance. The video on the right is a screen record of the React Access Trigger App on the persons phone, as the person is walking towards the bus stop. (the audio in the video is from the person phone). When the person arrives at the bus stop, the phone App delivers an automatic audio and visual alert of the bus stop name. The person then presses the website button in the App and is securely directed to the bus stop webpage (this is a third party provided webpage) with the phone delivering audio and visual departures for the bus stop. #Sightloss #PublicTransport #Accessibility #Wayfinding #Orientation #VisualImpairment #Inclusive

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Our "IR35 & Reasonable Care" webinar, now available online to watch. The webinar covered the key elements that make up reasonable care based on the statute and case law. We then looked at the steps businesses need to have in place to demonstrate this. This is a detailed topic, if you have further questions about your compliance, please get in touch with us. #IR35webinar #webinar #IR35 #IR35compliance #compliance #tax #HR #HRNews

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In 2016 I formed a company with my good friend Adam Parker where we wrote data warehousing and portal technology to enhance aging legacy housing and accounts systems. Then in 2018 we merged with Michelle Holland's accounts consultancy business which started the journey to where we are now. Despite the old Rubixx products being popular, we were enhancing tech that became more and more unsupportable and suppliers that increasingly didn't play well with others. We took the decision to write our own housing and accounts platform. Many quite rightly said we were crazy and we'd lose our shirt. We didn't take any loans or investments to fund the development, we all worked hard consulting on legacy tech and maintaining bolt on's to pay for it. We retained 100% control and ownership in the original trio which is how it remains to this day. We've navigated the business and build through a global pandemic, a Lizz Truss budget, a cost of living crisis and more Prime Ministers than I can name. Today as the merged company celebrates it's 6th birthday and we approach our October year end with £0 debt, amazing 7 figure numbers to publish and a very healthy pipeline, I'm humbled by the trust so many client organisations have shown and greatful for the great team we've built at Rubixx. A sector I have worked in since the age of 20 now has tens of thousands of user, tenant and contractor interactions a day on our platform. That pride is worth more than the money or fame or celebrity red carpet events... wait we don't get any of that stuff. Anyway... By our next birthday we're forecasting to have saved 20 more HAs from the legacy time bomb and show them there is something different out there. We will remain #neveroutsourcedneveroffshored and open to all modern integrations in the sector. We will continue to charge by the hour not the day and we will work to further loosen the grip over social housing the big 6... sorry now 5 have. Happy birthday to our small and mighty self.

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Applications for the digital boost grant are closing on Sep 13 (NEXT Friday). Harlow Council are keen to use the entire pool of money but there's a short application window. Here's some additional info for anyone interested in applying that I got from the business forum this week: - Max grant is £2.5k but you can ask for less for smaller projects - This is match-funded, so if you pay £2.5k, Harlow pays £2.5k - You have to cover the full cost up front, but they will reimburse as soon as you have an invoice and show the project is started - Projects DO need to demonstrate that they're started but don't have to be completed to receive reimbursement - It's not available to cover ongoing costs like salaries or rent - Harlow Council is open to novel and new ideas to use the funds even if they haven't been specifically outlined in the grant #grants #funding #opportunity #harlow

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Monday morning is back upon us and its the time where certainly my mind drifts towards more strategic thinking and long term planning, yours too? If so then its a perfect time to register for a future planning, though provoking webinar with the incredible K D Adamson. K D will ask us, is your business ready for the future? Her talk is fast paced, encapsulating and tailored for executives seeking to capitalise on strategic advantages through forward-thinking perspectives. This webinar is a must-attend for retail professionals, however, the valuable insights of future generational behaviours, geopolitical change and throw in a mix of sustainability also, are beneficial across all industries. If you couldn't make it to our recent in-person event, join our upcoming webinar on the 22nd October for an exclusive opportunity to gain insights from renowned speaker and futurist, K D Adamson. I promise you this one will be worth an hour of your working week. Everyone will take at least one 'ah wow' moment away from this and make you intrigued/inspired about our future business models. PS Did I mention we also have the amazing Morgan Kainth moderating the webinar and hosting Q&A with K D. Reserve your spot now to stay ahead of the curve and elevate your competitive edge: https://lnkd.in/egHrbM2s

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GenAI-driven digital transformation is modernising and optimising local governments, creating a better future for both citizens and staff. Join us in our journey #GenAI #DigitalTransformation

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HMRC: Hyperscale PaaS for Hyperscale Performance. HMRC offers an exemplar blueprint for a Platform Architecture, and how it can enable rapid digital service innovation at hyperscale levels. HMRC's Multi-channel Digital Tax Platform (MDTP) employs Continuous Delivery at scale, operating a cloud platform for over 130 user-facing applications powered by over 1000 microservices. The platform delivered financial support to more than 12 million employed and self-employed workers during the pandemic, processing 67,000 job claims within half an hour and handling 440,000 applications for government grants on the first day of its operation. Learn more in this talk from Ben Conrad and Matthew Hyatt.

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In the software development process, cloud infrastructure is a vital piece of the architecture but something that’s frequently treated as a secondary consideration, often created manually and very rarely documented. This can leave you in real trouble if for any reason you need to rebuild or duplicate your infrastructure. At Honest Burgers Ltd we’ve recently completed the task of scripting our Microsoft #Azure infrastructure using #Bicep, a domain specific language which has allowed us to automate the deployment process and makes future changes simple and fully trackable through version control. The whole process was a lot more straightforward than I initially expected and is something I would strongly recommend for anyone who builds cloud hosted systems. https://lnkd.in/exVKZ2Yy

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I've been working with Moverly recently and their incredible team including Gemma Young and Ed Molyneux to add my AI and tech experience as a relatively small cog in the incredible tech that they're creating. And, as this piece from Gemma Young shows, the technology (as brilliant as it is) can only get us so far. Meaningful, legislative change is also required to drag property transactions kicking and screaming into the 21st century. There is so much that can be achieved here! #proptech #ai #govtech

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All of the software that we sell was developed by ourselves. That, of course, includes our teams. That means we really do know what goes on under the bonnet. And that makes for software that is easier to support. #software #wastemanagement #assetchecking

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Part 2 of our Playwright Image Validation Blog by Stephen Powell is now available on our website. This part looks into depth at doing dynamic image capture and checking. https://lnkd.in/epcdeKVM

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As a contractor, choosing the right umbrella company is crucial for your financial well-being. Our latest article on ITContractorsUK.com breaks down everything you need to know about umbrella company reviews. 🔍 We explore the importance of reviews, what to look for, and how they can impact your decision-making process. With so many options available, understanding the experiences of others can help you make an informed choice. 📊 Don't leave your financial future to chance! Check out the full article to ensure you're choosing the right umbrella company for your contracting needs. 👉 Read more here [ https://lnkd.in/dBQjtZ-T ] If you are looking for a trustworthy and reliable umbrella company, have a look at our umbrella company partners here >> [ https://lnkd.in/fKRyqa8 ] DASA Umbrella Limited - Fully Compliant UK-based Umbrella Company Templeton Brook #Contracting #UmbrellaCompany #Contractors #ITContractorsUK

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I met up with Dave a couple of months ago in Leeds to show him the latest bit of magic I created. It's just some creative use of Terraform, DevOps and some out of the box usage of existing Python libraries, but Dave thinks this stuff is otherworldly! So we're staring into my cauldron, skimming through my book of magic, and he says something to me like, and I'm paraphrasing here... "How do you handle being so unbelievably clever and having this much knowledge and capability?" To which I replied... "You know I'm only operating at about 20% in this job right?!" Which in hindsight is a ridiculously arrogant thing to say, I didn't mean it like that. And of course, folks out there would gasp "Oh only 20% effort, pay him less!!" but my point is that most days I don't even have to try. Even when I push myself to learn something new or do something in a different, more efficient way, working in tech just isn't that difficult. For me. And I still churn output that would make most folks in tech envious. I've been trying to think about why since that day. I still don't have an answer. All I know is that I absolutely love working in this field. I love working with tech, making computers go boop boop beep beep, solving business problems, wowing people every day without much effort. Although I still don't think I'm even close to a 10x developer, those guys...wow! But it's not all sunshine and roses, believe me! Often I find being efficient and highly impactive has a downside. Business people expect more. Too much. Imagine a task takes 8 hours and I do it in 1. The next task takes 12 hours and the business complains when it's not in done in 1. This is a regular occurrence for me. Even though for someone else it might take anywhere between 4 and 16 hours to complete, because I take 2 I get grief for the delay. I try to take it as compliment that people just don't like me if they just think I'm smug, arrogant, too clever, a girly swot etc. I wouldn't have it any other way, and I think at 43 I'm finally starting to accept that and stopping dumbing myself down just to be liked.

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