Market pressure: scaling up our response
18 January 2018

We closed 2017 with - for the first time - a sell-out MRS Awards celebration. Congratulations to all of our very worthy winners.

It would be foolhardy, however, to enter the new year without a sense of caution. Uncertainty is the new norm, but it does bring with it opportunities.

Our commitment to our members is to mitigate against this uncertainty. We do this by helping government develop policies that protect the sector and build the capability, capacity and connectivity that you need, now more than ever.

We will be doubling - tripling, even - these efforts in 2018. As demonstrated in the latest Research Live Industry Report, the economic climate continues to be tough, amplified by Brexit. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is fast approaching, coming into force in May, and technology is reshaping the sector at pace.

One noticeable change in how the MRS is responding to these pressures is the expansion of the annual conference to become Impact Week 2018 – more international, more transformational, more aspirational. As Unilever’s Stan Sthanunathan, patron of the event, puts it: “Impact Week is going to be the most important week in our professional lives this year.”

Next time I pen this piece, GDPR will be upon us – then we must think about e-privacy, the implications of artificial intelligence on ethics, and more. Watch this space for announcements on new initiatives in data analytics from MRS and check this page for our GDPR communications. If there is something you think we have missed, don’t hesitate to contact me. There’s little time to waste.