Sunderland Software City

What's Really Keeping Your Business Running?

Come along to our upcoming webinar and learn how to map your digital operations, reduce risk, and build a more resilient business.

What's On?
✅ Get a clearer view of your digital operations.
✅ Learn practical steps that make your business more resilient.
✅ Come away with simple frameworks and templates to use right away.
✅ Understand where your weak points are and how to change them.
✅ Ask questions and speak with our digital experts.

🗓️ 23rd of September, 9:30am - 12:30pm
📍Online Webinar

Register here. 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/whats-really-keeping-your-business-running-tickets-1991451241271

Our Digital Pathfinders team have been working hard over the past 12 months to support organisations across the North East with digital adoption.

Read the 2026 Annual Report to learn more about Digital Pathfinders, the types of fully funded support provided and the impact it has had on SMEs, charities and social enterprises in the North East.

👉https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6464a022e230ff423e6d6168/6a6b1423b4d2265ed80a568e_DP%20Annual%20Report%202526-2-low.pdf

Want to learn more about AI?

Over the next few weeks, Accenture is hosting three free upskilling webinars for SMEs as part of Accenture AI for Growth. You can find out more and register through the links below:

How Safe AI is Trusted and Responsible - 12th of August
👉 https://ow.ly/FG6M50ZynHX

Agent Building Workshop by Ollo - 3rd of September
👉 https://www.aiforgrowth.community/c/events/agent-building-workshop-ollo

How to Use AI to Grow Revenue Without Growing Your Team - 10th of September
👉 https://www.aiforgrowth.community/c/events/51d-grow-your-revenue

📢 Last Chance to Apply!

We are hiring for a Business Administrator to join the Sunderland Software City team.

The ideal candidate will have a strong attention to detail and be able to competently manage a wide range of tasks efficiently to a high standard to achieve our aim of providing support across the organisation that reduce administration, measure impact and improve efficiencies.

The closing date for this role is Friday 14th August 2026. If you are interested, please visit our website to apply. 👇
https://www.sunderlandsoftwarecity.com/join-the-team -2688254

Digital Pathfinders is hosting a fully funded workshop for North East organisations that want to learn more about Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).

Come along to this event to take a deeper dive into AI search visibility and get practical insight about how you can improve your website so that it is shown across AI tools.

🗓️ 2nd September, 9:30am - 12:30pm
📍Peterlee

Register here. 👇
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/is-your-organisation-appearing-in-chatgpt-tickets-1991178017050

Enzo recently joined us from France for a six month marketing internship in Sunderland Software City's Communications Team.

Over the course of his placement, he worked primarily on the TechNExt 2026 marketing strategy, creating content, writing blogs and scheduling all of the posts.

You can read all about his experience in this blog. 👉 https://www.sunderlandsoftwarecity.com/news/enzo-bolard-international-internship-with-sunderland-software-city

"I've learned about different roles in tech and that you don't necessarily need a computer science degree to work in the industry."

That's Umamah from St Aidan's & St Anthony's Sixth Form, who pitched a business idea to a room full of people on the final day of our work experience week.

Standing up and explaining your idea to a room is one of those skills that turns up in every job going, tech or otherwise. Watching a group of teenagers do it well is a good reminder of the talent coming through in this region.

We deliver Digital Careers, our funders make it possible. If you would like to help more young people in the North East take part, get in touch.

📢 We are looking for a Business Administrator to join our Operations Team.

The ideal candidate will have a strong attention to detail and be able to competently manage a wide range of tasks efficiently to a high standard to achieve our aim of providing support across the organisation that reduce administration, measure impact and improve efficiencies.

The closing date for this role is Friday 14th August 2026. If you are interested, please visit our website to apply. 👇
https://www.sunderlandsoftwarecity.com/join-the-team -2688254

"At the beginning of the week, I thought coding was complicated, but now I think I can do it."

That's Ryan from Castle View Enterprise Academy, one of the students who spent a work experience week with us exploring what a career in tech could look like.

Midway through the week they stopped learning about tech businesses and started building one 🚀

In teams, they took a rough idea through to something they could explain properly. What the product is. Who it's for. Why anyone would pay for it. What makes it different from everything else out there.

Starting a business isn't on the careers menu for most young people and it should be. The North East has a brilliant startup scene. The earlier young people see that as a real option, the better.

Every Digital Careers experience is made possible by partners. If you would like to help us reach more young people across the North East, get in touch.

Is Your Organisation Appearing in AI Search Engines?

This fully funded workshop from Digital Pathfinders takes a deeper dive into AI engine optimisation and generative optimisation, looking beyond Google Search to understand how visibility works across AI tools and search engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and more. Join us to learn more.

🗓️ 2nd September
📍Peterlee

Register here. 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/is-your-organisation-appearing-in-chatgpt-tickets-1991178017050