Graduate in line for coronavirus work award
A Sunderland University graduate whose digital strategy helped thousands of civil servants stay connected during lockdowns has been shortlisted for an award.
Marcus Melton began his role as senior technology innovation consultant with the DepartmentforEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) just before the pandemic hit, but quickly found himself introducing new and emerging technologies in areas such as Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence in a bid to keep more than 30,000 employees able to carry out their day-today operations.
That work has seen him shortlisted for a Young Digital Leaders of the Year award.
The awards aim to recognisetheachievementsofyoung people,aged16to30,inthedigitaltransformationoftheirsector.
Marcus, who graduated in 2017 with a First-Class Business and Applied Marketing Management degree from the University of Sunderland, said: “It’s a real honour just to be shortlisted in the awards.
"Myroleisverymuchabout futurethinkingandlookingfor technologies we can take advantage of.
“When Covid-19 hit, it was about implementing the technology quickly, as Defra has thousands of employees and there were lots of different questions that needed to be answered.
“We implemented a chat bot, which had all of the info about Defra and Covid-19 – answering15,000questionswithin just a couple of weeks.”
Marcus, who works from Defra’s Newcastle centre, says: “I fell in love with the University of Sunderland as soon as I visited during an Open Day. It really helped shape my own future and I’m truly grateful to my academics for their guidance and support.”