i-UG, the UK’s IBM i user group, is to hold a big event in Wolverhampton next month.

Its winter conference will take place at the city’s Mount Hotel (pictured, above) on November 26 and is free to all i-UG members.

Colin Spofford, i-UG secretary and treasurer, says: “This event would normally be a single stream but because of the success of this year’s International i-Power event in September, we have decided to increase the number of sessions by making it dual stream.”

Speakers include PowerWire contributors Pete Samways and Steve Bradshaw. Samways, who is development manager at Leeds-based Proximity, will present a session on using open source solutions. Bradshaw, who also doubles up as i-UG’s technical director, will talk about useful tips and techniques in light of the latest IBM i announcements.

i-UG chairman Mike Ryan will take a look at the economics of upgrading to new Power System hardware and there will be an opening keynote session by from Darin Stahl, senior research director at Info-Tech Research Group.

Stahl, who will be flying in from Canada to present this speech, will introduce the audience to concept he calls the “technology debt” that surrounds IT security. He will also explain where his organisation sees the Power i in terms of security robustness.

Irish midrange speaker circuit favourite Paul Tuohy will end the day with a discussion about the benefits to be gained by integrating SQL into existing systems.

The event also features a presentation by Paul Fryer who heads up IBM’s Academic Initiative programme in Europe, which seeks to add new blood to the Power Systems workforce via liaison with colleges and universities.

Fryer’s session, entitled “Academic, My Dear Watson”, will touch on this work and then move onto the opportunities presented by IBM’s Bluemix development platform. By using Bluemix, developers get access to a wealth of tools including the enormous processing power of Watson.

For more details and registration, see the i-UG website.