Dec Norton

Part of the IT Leaders 100 - a list of the most influential IT leaders in the UK in 2023.

A young digital professional, Dec has only been in the industry for 10 years - starting in a developer role before working up to Director of Development in 2017 (although in his own words he "wears a few different hats").

How did you get into IT?

I started in secondary school, building websites for small businesses. Opportunities came up to start working on mobile apps, using AR & VR technologies for UK travel brands. The apps required custom content management systems for media, which kickstarted my love of backend services and user experience.

Working freelance got a bit tiring after a while; I never felt like a project was truly "finished". I was itching to make something my singular focus, so I could work towards making it the best it could be. I'd been working with MAS already, and there was an opportunity to work full-time on CareLineLive. Nearly 6 years later and I'm still here, spending every day exploring the sector and improving our offering.

How do you ensure diversity is taken into account in your IT recruitment?

Honestly, I think it's harder to run a business with biases in your recruitment processes than without. We're proud of the fact that although we're a small business of 22, we have employees from six non-UK countries.

We have no strict requirements for any role that we fill; if you can demonstrate that you'll be able to throw yourself into your work and grow alongside us, you'll fit in well. Whilst some roles would typically require a lot of experience, we look for attributes that indicate a potential recruit could grow and succeed in the role; even if they don't tick all of the "boxes".

We offer flexible working arrangements for those that have dependants or find it difficult to commute to the office. Ultimately if you have a valid reason for working outside the norm, we'll do our best to accommodate you. For example, we have one employee that regularly travels back to their home country to look after their elderly mother, and another who has been working from abroad whilst he moves his grandmother out of Kyiv.

Which technology are you currently most excited by?

The obvious answer would be the recent boom of LLM models such as ChatGPT and Bard; the potential there is exciting and also scary. As a software engineer by trade, I'm excited by anything that can give us more time to engage the creative parts of their brain. There are also significant advances being made in wearable technology with regard to health diagnostics and sensors; the vast majority of people that require ongoing care have one or more conditions that need regular monitoring. There's a huge opportunity to utilise these types of technology to ensure the "circle of care" remains informed, from health professionals to loved ones.

What would an outsider find the most surprising part of your job?

Being involved in a small business means lines are a bit blurred. Whilst primarily I'm focused on software engineering, day-to-day I could be working on the overall strategy of the company, helping a new customer get up and running, or fronting the company at a trade show.

What's your secret talent?

I can't sing and definitely don't have perfect pitch, but I've got a knack for getting to grips with new technology very quickly. I'm also a drummer.

What makes you laugh?

If ever I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed or need to reset my brain, you'll probably find me scrolling through dog videos on Instagram.