Rudman Consulting helps you maximise the opportunities, minimise the risks, and manage the impacts of getting digital. Rudman Consulting Ltd is a practice that works specifically on:

• designing, developing and delivering national and regional digital development programmes for the creative, cultural and tourism sectors – see the AmbITion programme, for example;
• helping organisations design, develop and implement holistic digital strategies integrated across all areas of business to create long-term business model sustainability, via consultancy with individual organisations;
• IT infrastructure planning for capital projects – see The Bluecoat Arts Centre case study.

Why?

The impact of technology has changed the way that our 21st century society works and plays – digital developments have changed the way that we gather information, communicate and consume. Our organisations’ clients, audiences and fans are setting the pace of the need for businesses to engage with IT and digital developments. Across the spectrum, businesses are investing in ICT, e-business, web and mobile technologies, social media platforms and other digital developments so that they can continue to competitively offer product and engage customers. Organisations are finding that traditional rational analysis of data and hierarchical communication no longer makes them competitive – our customers have to buy in with their hearts as well as minds: businesses have to emerge and adapt. Instant communication and global reach, crowd sourcing, open source and open innovation make business less about what we know, and more about how and where we apply our knowledge. In the creative, cultural, and tourism sectors digital production methods, digital distribution channels, and our audiences’ digital consumption patterns are creating both opportunities and challenges for businesses. Rudman Consulting helps you maximise the opportunities, minimise the risks, and manage the impacts of getting digital in a world where the only constant is change, complexity, uncertainty and ambiguous circumstances.

Who?

Hannah Rudman has thirteen years’ experience working in the cultural, creative and tourism sectors, aiming to increase capability, capacity, confidence and creativity in e-business, ICT systems, digital content creation, and digital archiving. Enhancing environmental sustainability through digital developments is Hannah’s latest area of research, interest and work. Founder of Rudman Consulting Ltd, Hannah has been working through independent consultancy in the UK since 2003. During this time, she has:
• raised over £3.7m of public and charitable funds for cultural sector digital projects;
• commissioned over £50,000 of digital art across all art forms;
• commissioned £400,000 of digital learning resources; and
• worked with over 100 cultural, creative, and tourism sector clients.

Rudman Consulting currently advises governments and non-departmental public bodies on vision and policy development for cultural, creative and tourism sectors: championing digital development and environmental sustainability. Hannah speaks internationally and regularly on these themes.

Rudman Consulting also creates national and regional programmes to ensure good policy and vision is implemented and embedded: designing and delivering Arts Council England’s and Creative Scotland’s AmbITion, a £3.1m change programme, that utilises IT and digital developments to facilitate the longer-term sustainability of cultural organisations.

Envirodigital was founded by Hannah in 2008 to guide the creative, cultural and digital industries in an environmentally sustainable direction through digitally focussed strategic consultancy and production consultancy. In 2011, Envirodigital developed a carbon footprint savings calculator for digital content consumer and producers; was consultant producer on the National Theatre Scotland’s virtual live theatre project, Five Minute Theatre; and has led Scotland’s Creative and Cultural Industries’ response to the Scottish Government’s 2020 Climate Group. In 2010, Envirodigital pioneered the use of webcasting to produce cultural and educational events with lower carbon emissions. In 2009, Envirodigital helped the National Theatre Wales set-up as a virtual organisation by supporting them to design and implement environmentally sustainable, digital artistic and operational practices.

Hannah is Digital and Environmental Associate with Mission Models Money; and Specialist Advisor for digital at the Cultural Enterprise Office. She currently sits on the board of New Media Scotland and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Hannah has authored several How To… digital development guides ; co-authored the AmbITion Toolkit; writes regularly for the creative and cultural sectors’ press; and co-wrote Getting Digital – a report for Scottish Arts Council that resulted in their designing of a digital development policy for creative and cultural industries in Scotland. Hannah was a Special Advisor to Scottish Arts Council 2008-9.

Hannah is additionally a PhD candidate and a lecturer at Edinburgh Napier’s School of Computing, where she teaches on the ethics, impacts and opportunities of being digital and researches the impacts of digital developments on the cultural industries.

From 2003 – 2006, Hannah was Director of Arts Magnet Ltd, and from 2006 – 2008, she was the Chair of Media Arts North: both digital development agencies for the cultural sector in the North of England. Prior to 2003, Hannah worked as a Research Consultant for AEA Consulting (’98-’99), was a New Media Producer at the Royal Shakespeare Company (’99-’01); and was a Business Development Manager – initially at education software developer Immersive Education (’01-’02) and then at user interface developers, Nascent Form (’02-’03).

Hannah has a first class BA (Hons) in Drama; a distinction MRes in Drama and IT; and a Diploma in Computer Science – all from Royal Holloway, University of London. Her life-long passion for exploring the digitally cutting edge was initiated by her engagement in contemporary theatre and music, and fascination with emerging technologies from a young age.