LONDON, June 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --
The first ever London Technology Week (Monday 16th -
Friday 20th June) is set to showcase the capital's tech
strengths with some of the most famous names in the sector taking
part. Leading tech figures such as Bebo's Michael Birch and LinkedIn's Reid Hoffman will be involved in what has become
the largest collection of tech events ever seen in Europe, confirming London as one of the world's leading digital
hubs.
(Logo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130723/629764-a )
Over 30,000 tech entrepreneurs, investors and developers from
around the globe will be attending the week, which comprises over
200 independently-run events. They will hear first-hand from some
of the world's biggest tech companies, including Microsoft,
Samsung, Google, Intel and Yammer, as well as home-grown successes,
such as Mind Candy, Hassle and SpareRoom.
Across the week serial entrepreneurs and investors, based in
London and internationally, will
take to the stage to share their experiences and insights on the
future of tech.
Speakers throughout the week include:
- Michael Birch, co-founder
of Bebo (The Future of Social Media, Monday 16th
June)
- Reid Hoffman, co-founder
of LinkedIn (Silicon Valley Comes to the UK:
CEO Science summit, Tuesday 17th June)
- Simon Breakwell,
co-founder of Expedia (TravelTech Leaders, Monday
16th June)
- Samir Desai, CEO and
co-founder of Funding Circle (Tech Founder Talks, Tuesday
17th June)
- Kevin and Julia
Hartz, co-founders of Eventbrite (Internet World,
Wednesday 18th June)
- Brent Hoberman,
co-founder of PROFounders Capital (Vator Splash London,
Thursday 19th June)
- David Cohen, co-founder
of TechStars (Vator Splash London, Thursday 19th
June)
- Russell Buckley,
government advisor on Venture Capitalism and mobile expert (Tech
Start-Ups: What it takes, Wednesday 18th June)
- Luke Johnson, former
chairman of Channel 4, (Pledge Drive for New Tech College,
Monday 16th June)
- Lord Young of Graffham, Government advisor on Enterprise
(StartUp Europe Roadshow, Friday 20th June)
- Dominique Vanhamme,
General Manager EMEA Networking at Dell
(Interop London, Thursday 19th
June)
Events range from large international conferences to workshops,
face-to-face investor meetings, pitching competitions, hackathons
and insights into some of the world's largest companies, covering a
broad spectrum of tech sectors.
With World Cup fever in full flow, there will be a number of
sports tech events to choose from. During the Germany vs Portugal match on Monday 16th June,
Squawka, the real-time football data company, will host 'Second
Screening: The World Cup - Live'
and launch a new series of free-to-play interactive games. Using
leaderboards and chat functionality, players can score points
depending on different footballers' achievements in the live
fixture. Separately, during the England vs Uruguay match on Thursday 19th
June, digital publishers YUDU Media and The Football Association
will show how tech is being used to enhance and support coaches and
players at their event 'The Influence of Technology in
Sport'.
For those looking for the latest news and hands-on consumer
tech demos, leading tech website Pocket-Lint has partnered with
O2 to create a week-long Tech Tavern, 16th -
20th June, at The Fable bar along Holborn Viaduct. Big
companies like Sony will demonstrate their cutting-edge
technologies next to newcomers to the UK, such as consumer robotics
and Artificial Intelligence start-up Anki, who will demo its latest
real-life racing game featuring miniature AI robotic cars. There
will be the latest phones from HTC, Samsung, Huawei and LG, and
never before-seen demos by Projection TV that stream televised
services across multiple devices. Other events include an Olympus
photography masterclass, the chance to try Google Glass, a
sneak-peak at the latest Makerbot 3D printers and a gaming night
with some not-yet-released PS4 titles.
The worlds of fashion and technology merge with
'FashTech' on Wednesday 18th June, an
event that aims to drive innovation between the two sectors and
highlight what the fashion world can teach the tech community.
Featuring innovative FashTech start-ups from across the capital and
panel discussions with companies such as Topshop and Net-A-Porter,
the event also includes a FashTech pitch with STEM Academy sixth
formers, who will present their concept of a 'Gadget Glove' to
industry judges. The 15 FashTech start-ups taking part include
Wonderluk's 3D printed jewellery, digital knitwear designer
Brooke Roberts and kovert designs,
who create 'smart' wearable technology products with an embedded
chip to alert you to important messages on your phone.
Tech developers and creatives will get the chance to
network with some of the key decision makers in the tech industry.
Samsung has teamed up with techUK to host an Open Innovation
session on Monday 16th June: 'Samsung Future
Technology' will highlight its latest advancements in consumer
tech and give attendees the chance to pitch ideas for future
development. Microsoft will host development workshops at
'Internet World' on Tuesday 17th June to show how
to create mobile applications for Window phones, tablets, laptops
and desk devices, while on the same day Yammer's engineering team
will host 'The Yammer Way' to demonstrate its product
development system and methodology. On Wednesday 18th
June, Tesco will hold a 'Tesco TJAM' session where attendees
can present their ideas to senior product owners, technologists and
multichannel leadership teams.
On Wednesday 18th June, Artificial
Intelligence (AI) will go under the microscope as innovation
charity Nesta investigates the advances in robotics and AI at
'Humanising the Robot Society'. This event includes a live
robotics demonstration by research group EMOTE, who will test an
interactive game in which a robot acts as the Mayor of a new city,
as well as a demonstration by Shadow Robot of its latest
Dexterous Hand, which has a sensory camera. To continue the
Artificial Intelligence theme, The Spectator magazine will discuss
the possible risks this technology poses at its event 'Will
Artificial Intelligence Put My Job At Risk?' chaired by
broadcaster Andrew Neil.
Tech entrepreneurs and start-ups looking for advice are
spoilt for choice by the week's events, which include 'Tech
Founder Talks' on Tuesday 17th June, where start-up
companies such as Funding Circle, Housetrip and Duedil will discuss
setting up in London and how to
build a tech business from a £10m company to a £100m company. On
Wednesday 18th June, 'Finance for Female
Entrepreneurs' offers a chance to get advice from prominent
female investors and entrepreneurs, including Helene Panzarino from Growth Accelerator. Also
on Wednesday, WANdisco are hosting 'Big Data Breakfast' to
look at how Big Data is transforming British business as it is
predicted to generate £216 billion and provide 58,000 jobs for the
UK economy by 2017.
Education practitioners and innovators in EdTech will
come together on Monday 16th June at Somerset House for
a one-day workshop, 'RE.WORK: The Future of
Education', to discover how technology is impacting
education. Speakers include Will
Pearson, Director of Technology at Ravensbourne, the UK's
leading digital and design college, and Bethany Koby, co-founder of Technology Will Save
Us. On Tuesday 17th June Dragon
Hall will launch its new tech hub at
'Techday - Bridging the Digital Divide
for Children and Young People' where youngsters from the age of
eight will get the chance to test out virtual reality headsets,
learn coding and print their own 3D designs.
Supporting London's growing
MedTech sector, the newly created MedCity will host 'Set
the Strategy - Creating the Environment for
Growth' on Tuesday 17th June for entrepreneurs
developing cutting-edge technologies for patients, doctors and the
healthcare system. Also on Tuesday, the Data Source Institute
at Imperial College will host 'The Human Brain Project' to
show how they creating a 'virtual brain' to help understand how the
brain functions and how diseases affect it. On Friday
20th June researchers from University College London
will discuss how data gathered from medical devices can be used at
home or in a clinical setting during 'Digital Health
Devices'.
For FinTech, pre-eminent speakers from the investment
community, including Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Enterprise Kit
Malthouse, will discuss London's
global role at 'FinTech London: Is London Leading the Global
FinTech Race?' on Thursday 19th June, and also on
Thursday, the team behind eCommerce Expo and big data consultancy
Fintricity will show how data driven e-commerce is effecting all
parts of businesses at 'Data Driven Ecommerce' at
'Internet World'.
Additional highlights of London Technology Week:
Monday
16thJune
General Assembly and Quartz present: The Future of the Mobile
Web
19:00, BL_NK. Old Street
More than a tenth of the world's web traffic is now on mobile
phones and in some countries half of the population's web activity
is through their mobile. Global educational institution General
Assembly will present a series of interviews with technologists,
investors and strategists to help devise a future for the mobile
web that avoids any disruptions between internet giants, telecoms
companies and supply chains.
Tuesday
17thJune
Internet World
10:00 - 17:00. ExCeL London
In this three day event, thousands of IT, technology and digital
marketing professionals will discover the most cutting-edge
technology innovations and strategies to drive their organisations.
Highlights include a tech start-up showcase, hands-on training and
workshops, live pitching and mentoring. The event also hosts
Interop, the Big Data Show and 'Tech Transformation Forum'
which will feature talks from some of the leading names in business
and technology, including Intel, Barclays, Tech City UK and
EVRYTHNG.
Wednesday
18thJune
Digital Transformation of the Streets: Technology &
Homelessness with The Big Issue & Salt
17:30 - 18:15. Internet World, ExCeL London
The Big Issue will show how digital transformation is impacting
positively on homelessness. The event includes discussions from
Stephen Robertson, CEO of Big Issue
Foundation and entrepreneurial vendor Simon
Mott, who recently made headlines as the first Big Issue
vendor to accept card payments.
Thursday
19thJune
Croydon Tech City: Women in Tech
19:30. Matthews Yard, Croydon
Networking event and debate focussing on female founders from
South East London with speakers
and panellists including Alex
Depledge, founder of the home cleaners network Hassle, which
recently secured £6m in venture funding; Sweta Chattopadhyay from the fundraising
platform Localfunded; and the Ecosystem Development Manager at
Level39, Adizah Tejani. The event will focus on the growth
trajectory of female tech entrepreneurship and discuss how to make
tech careers more appealing to women.
Friday
20thJune
StartUp Europe Roadshow
9:30 - 13:30. Google Campus, Shoreditch
Students and aspiring entrepreneurs between 16 and 30 years old
will benefit from first-hand mentoring by exchanging ideas with
role-models and investigating funding opportunities. This includes
an opening talk by enterprise adviser to the Prime Minister and
serial entrepreneur, Lord Young, who will highlight new initiatives
from the British government.
London Technology Week has been organised by UBM Live, in
association with London &
Partners - the Mayor's official promotional organisation for
London, ExCeL London and Tech
London Advocates.
There will be free, ticketed and closed events across the week.
For more information about London Technology Week and a full
up-dated list of events, visit http://londontechnologyweek.co.uk/
.
-ends-
Notes to Editors
- Rainmaking Loft will serve as the official Press Office
throughout London Technology Week. To contact the Press Office
please email ltw@clarity.pr or call +44-207-100-1333
- London Technology Week 2015 is scheduled to take place on the
week commencing June
15th
- Subscribe to the official London Technology Week newsletter to
be kept up to date with next year's event
http://londontechnologyweek.co.uk/subscribe/
About UBM Live
UBM Live (http://www.ubmlive.com) connects people and creates
opportunities for companies across five continents to develop new
business, meet customers, launch new products, promote brands and
expand markets. Operating in more than 23 countries, UBM Live
organises many of the world's largest, most important live events,
awards and community sites in a wide variety of industries. Its
technology events include Internet World, Technology for Marketing
& Advertising, eCommerce Expo, Black Hat Europe and Game
Developers Conference Europe and London Technology Week, which
is run in partnership with London
& Partners.
About London &
Partners
London & Partners is the
Mayor's official promotional organisation for London. Our company attracts and delivers
value to business, students and visitors. London & Partners is a not-for-profit
public private partnership, funded by the Mayor of London and a network of commercial
partners.
Our remit is to drive leisure and business visitors as well as
bidding to secure major events in London, to unlock the city for overseas
businesses who want to set up or expand in London and to promote the capital's world
class universities to international students.
Our intention is to work in partnership with organisations in
London and across the world to
deliver our goal - that London be
globally recognised as the best big city on earth.
For more information visit http://www.londonandpartners.com
About Tech London Advocates
Tech London Advocates is a private sector led coalition of
over 500 expert individuals from the tech sector and broader
community who have committed to championing London's potential as a world-class hub for
tech and digital businesses. Founded by Russ Shaw in 2013, it strives to support
London's tech start-ups and
high-growth businesses in finding new investment, new talent and
continued success.
For more information about Tech London Advocates, visit
http://techlondonadvocates.org.uk/