28 April 2026 - UCISA26 David Clover Reflections
UCISA26 Leadership Summit – Plus One
The UCISA26 Leadership Summit in Liverpool was my first in person UCISA event, with thanks to the Plus One scheme and support of my manager. Having recently been “reorganised” to sit within a CIO Directorate as a senior manager it was a great opportunity to get an overview of the sector and current issues.
I was looking forward to immersing myself into the context of the event, see the very small number of familiar faces I knew from the attendees list, and learn from some sessions that resonate with the work we’re currently doing. I’m used to attending library sector conferences which have not returned to multi-day events post-COVID so my first impressions were about the size of the conference and the large number of exhibitors. It felt a little overwhelming to start with, but it didn't take long to feel comfortable and work out where everything was. It is certainly a great opportunity to engage with suppliers and understand what is happening and coming forward from the broader marketplace (and the 30 second pitches by exhibitors were really valuable in identifying who might be useful to talk to – aside from considerations of Lego, socks or, for me, proper coffee!). Liverpool is, of course, a wonderful city and the venue was very handy to hotels and it was good to see that organisers had given thought to individual differences and neurodiversity.
There were strong themes throughout the conference. It was useful to see where others were on their AI journeys, hear discussions about product management and the challenge of defining the “business owner” role, and consider the balance and tensions between financial constraints and digital transformation. I was also interested in hearing about leadership and leadership development as much as these topics were embedded in other sessions. The closing keynote – from Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller was a great opportunity to hear about the leadership experience and people-centred approach within M15 (apparently not at all like the television programme Spooks!).
I made sure I gave myself a little space after the conference to revisit my notes, reflect on possible actions and follow ups and consider how to put some of the learning into action. The advantage of having colleagues also attending is that some of the learning gets woven into our ongoing conversations.
My top tips for anyone attending for the first time include
- Identify some of the exhibitors you really want to talk to in advance (the train journey was good for this)
- Make sure you top up your vitamin D (I loved my early morning walks around the venue site – Liverpool Albert Docks a great venue in this regard)
- Take the opportunity to network with colleagues as well as concentrating on the formal sessions and exhibitor spaces.
- Attend the Newcomers session – if only so you can spot the other newbies (I’d also recommend to the organisers a coloured sticker as a great way to identify first-timers to allow others to draw them in).
David Clover, Director of Library Services and Digital Skills, Middlesex University
