Celebrate 52 years of BCS Hertfordshire: talks, a hackathon & networking bringing industry, students and professionals together.

Agenda

9:00am - Registration & Networking (Main Hall)

10:00am - Opening Ceremony & Welcome Keynote (Main Hall)

10:30am - Hackathon Kickoff & Account Setup (Lab) / Breakout Sessions 1 (Tracks A & B)

11:00am - Networking Break (Breakouts) / Hackathon setup continues (Lab)

11:15am - Breakout Sessions 2 (Tracks A & B) / Hackathon Round 1 (Lab)

11:45am - Breakout Sessions 3 (Tracks A & B)

12:15pm - Lunch & Networking (Hackathon paused)

1:00pm - Breakout Sessions 4 (Tracks A & B) / Hackathon Round 2 (Lab)

1:30pm - Breakout Sessions 5 (Tracks A & B)

2:00pm - Networking Break

2:15pm - Breakout Sessions 6 (Tracks A & B) / Hackathon Final Round (Lab)

2:45pm - Hackathon Judging (Lab) / Buffer & Networking (Breakouts)

3:30pm - Awards & Closing Ceremony (Main Hall)

5:00pm - Event Close

Synopsis

Join us for the BCS Hertfordshire 52nd Anniversary Community Conference - the second year of our annual community conference, marking 52 years (1974-2026) of connecting IT professionals, students and innovators across the region.

This full-day event combines: Twelve speaker sessions across two parallel breakout tracks, covering AI agent design and optimisation, the data and architecture foundations that decide whether AI delivers, enterprise ontologies and knowledge graphs, mainframe and enterprise computing, AI-driven robotics and automation, and bridging the digital divide through skills and education. A hackathon running all day in the Lab, from kickoff and account setup through three timed rounds to live judging, with results announced at the closing ceremony. An opening keynote and a closing awards ceremony in the Main Hall, plus an open lobby with community stalls and exhibitor stands.

All-day networking with industry, academia, local government, exhibitors and the wider BCS community.

Delegates will:

Understand what it takes to move an AI agent from a working prototype to something reliable, affordable and safe in production.

See why so many AI initiatives stall between insight and execution, and what data foundations, governance and operating models change that.

Learn how ontologies and knowledge graphs give an organisation a common language for its data, analytics and AI.

Gain a plain-English grounding in mainframe and enterprise computing, and the career opportunity opening up as experienced staff retire.

Explore AI-driven robotics and humanoid automation across healthcare, laboratory research and industrial settings.

Consider how digital skills, education and inclusion close the digital divide, drawing on real community and youth engagement work.

Test their problem-solving in practice through the hackathon, alongside peers from across the region.

This is an event for students, early-career professionals and established leaders alike - a chance to connect, learn, and celebrate 52 years while shaping what comes next.

Ticket costs

(Prices stated are inclusive of VAT and fees)

Venue attendance

BCS members: £10.00

Non-members: £15.00

Students: £5.00

Online attendance

All tickets: £2.00

Refunds/cancellations

A refund, excluding fees, will be issued if a cancellation request is received within 14 days of the booking date or by noon on Friday 24 October 2026, otherwise, name substitutions will be allowed after this date.

Our events are for adults aged 16 years and over.

This meeting is conducted in accordance with the BCS Code of Conduct for Meetings (https://www.bcs.org/media/egnkzp3f/bcs-code-of-conduct-for-meetings.pdf).

BCS is a membership organisation. If you enjoy this event, please consider joining BCS. You’ll be very welcome. You’ll receive access to many exclusive career development tools, an introduction to a thriving professional community and also help us Make IT Good For Society. Join BCS today (https://www.bcs.org/membership/events)

Please note, if you have any accessibility needs, please let us know via groups@bcs.uk and we’ll work with you to make suitable arrangements.

BCS privacy notice: your data will be processed by BCS in accordance with our data privacy notice (https://www.bcs.org/legal-and-privacy-notices/data-privacy-notice/).

Photography: by attending this event, you may be photographed or filmed. Please speak to a member of staff if you do not wish to be included.

For overseas delegates who wish to attend the event, please note that BCS does not issue invitation letters.

This event is brought to you by: Hertfordshire Branch (https://herts.bcs.org/)

Description supplied by the event organiser.