Technology

Eligo and KPMG discuss the Midlands tech scene: 5G roll out, encouraging investment, addressing barriers to business and the skills shortage. Last year I migrated north from Eligo's London headquarters to head up the tech division in Birmingham. Since then, I have dived head-first into the Midlands tech scene. To better understand the businesses and candidates within the Midlands tech market. In April I was lucky enough to interview Tim Kay, Head of Technology & Media at KPMG. To delve deeper into the challenges Midlands based tech businesses face, from lack of investment to skills shortages. As well as some of the more exciting investments into the Midlands area, such as the new 5G roll-out. What are some of the broader challenges that the Midlands tech scene currently faces? I have a confession to make, I’m a reasonably recent immigrant into the Midlands. I’ve spent the last couple of years in the Midlands, having spent 11 years previously in London and I think the big takeaway for me is that we have entrepreneurs, success stories, talent, ideas and innovation – but we don’t do a good enough job of bringing that together and telling our story. I spend a fair amount of time in London within the investment community and the likes and I find that you’re still having to educate investors that the Midlands area isn’t just about the manufacturing and automotive industry. We have a good technology cluster up here that are doing really interesting things. Birmingham and the Midlands are tiny in comparison to London, but it’s not about volume it's more about value and quality of what we have. And so, we’ve got to package that up and tell the story a bit more coherently and certainly a bit more forcefully. What can we do to tell the story about Birmingham and the Midlands tech scene? We need to understand and make sure that when we are talking about the Midlands tech scene that we are including all the exciting range of tech businesses in the Midlands region, from Birmingham to Solihull to Leamington Spa. In order to sell to investors and corporates in London and overseas. Yes, the conversation of tech innovation will start in the west midlands as a base, as that is where we have the scale, but we need to be upfront about where exactly in the Midlands tech is thriving. Historically Birmingham and the Midlands has always been at the forefront of the industrial revolution and manufacturing. Do you think this hinders the image of the Midlands Tech scene? It probably does, but all the things you associate the Midlands with, from manufacturing to automotive, aerospace and the public sector etc – all of these areas are going through massive technological transformation. We need to tailor the conversation of automotive, manufacturing and aerospace around the fact that there is a new supply chain of interesting and innovative businesses in the Midlands. Why might tech businesses in the Midlands area struggle to find investment and funding? There are some businesses in the Midlands that require early-stage funding but there are also companies that have gained customers and growth early on and don’t need funding. It’s all about understanding what the businesses in the region need and require for success, as all are not the same. The tech sector in the Midlands is not homogenous. For those that do need more funding, we need to continue telling the story around the Midlands tech scene to generate and attract investment. "We need to paint a picture to candidates that for that next stage of your life and next career move, the Midlands is a great place to be." How do we retain and attract tech professionals, particularly those that live outside of the Midlands? We know we have interesting and successful tech stories to tell, so let’s tell them and not be shy about promoting a great career opportunity and the great businesses we have in the region. There are the big manufacturing and aerospace businesses in the Midlands that do have big name recognition when you think of the region, but that’s not all of our economy. I spent 75% of my time with the SME’s, which gives you some indication of where our focus is from a technology perspective – it’s the earlier stage, high growth, high potential businesses who are looking for graduate, entry-level talent and more experienced hires. That is where the demand is coming from and we need to re-orientate that talent base to that population of companies and not just big businesses in the area. Major selling points [for relocating for a job in the Midlands] would be quality of life and that there are businesses here that would be of interest to you and your career progression. In particular, if you are worried about uprooting your family or life to relocate to the Midlands and for whatever reason 12 months in, it doesn’t work out at that particular role. There are a cluster of other great tech businesses in the west midlands that are diverse and that can offer a range of other opportunities and career progression. Quality of life in the Midlands is substantially different to that of London and we need to paint a picture to candidates that for that next stage of your life and next career move, the Midlands is a great place to be. What’s the most important piece of advice that you’d give to a leader of a tech startup? So to compare and contrast London and Birmingham; In London, it is very easy to find someone who has been there done it [in terms of building a start-up and gaining investment etc] and who can guide and mentor you. In Birmingham that is much harder to find, as we don’t have a coherent network and cluster that works, but it does exist. Whether it’s organisations like KPMG that use our own network to bring people together, Silicon Canal or public sector groups. They do exist, so go and find them, and it’s worth spending some time connecting with someone who has been there and done it and can help, will pay dividends. "The 5G rollout will be a great potential regional asset but also an inward investment asset." Can you tell us more about the 5G rollout in the West Midlands area and what you think the impact on businesses will be? The 5G rollout will be a great potential regional asset but also an inward investment asset. Inviting other businesses to do something interesting on this new disruptive, technology platform based in the Midlands. What’s interesting about the 5G rollout is that it’s not going to be accelerated by purely having a 5G enabled handset and being able to download films quicker etc. It’s all about industrial and enterprise user cases for it, and it comes back to how do we connect our historic industrial strengths in terms of the industry to this new world - 5G can be one of these connective tissues to do it. If the region wants to compete on the world stage, we need to differentiate ourselves, and if we can create 5G as an asset that we can take overseas and invite businesses to build on top of this – it will really help us to do so. In terms of the social impact, if you look at the sectors 5G is being utilised on, you’ve got citizen wellbeing, mobility, property and construction. A major focus will be on how you can utilise 5G and citizen wellbeing by pre-empting illness, accidents etc, and how we can use tech for good. All opportunities that will be available with 5G are able to put the Midlands region on the map in terms of an international stage. It will also demonstrate to the talent upcoming from local universities and outside of the region that there are some really great, interesting and experimental things going on in tech in the region. "We are in a global race for talent and any barriers are going to impact things." How do you feel Brexit will affect or is already affecting the digital tech sector both locally (Midlands) and nationally? The tech sector has been less affected by the conversation around Brexit than others, and the UK is still a great place to invest and in terms of international investment, there hasn’t been any slowing down of that. There is, however, the question about talent. We are in a global race for talent and any barriers are going to impact things. So, what we need is some certainty to overcome the negative stories about the difficulty of being able to get high-class talent from overseas. We need to make sure we are telling that story consistently and that people can still come to the UK. A lot that has happened over the past 6 months in terms of some of the visa regulations and requirements are being looked at and relaxed. I also think there is a massive opportunity for the Midlands. What we have seen certainly over the second half of 2018 and certainly into 2019, you’ve got all this money that’s coming into the UK because it’s a great place to start and grow a tech business. But, in London valuations have gone up and you’ve got a lot of money that can’t necessarily meet those valuation expectations and so they are looking elsewhere. Which means there is a massive opportunity for the Midlands tech sector to say, London is great, but how about looking at the Midlands, we have the companies, talent and entrepreneurs here. What are you most excited about for the future of tech in the Midlands? If you look at the talent we’ve got, the companies we have and are just starting to create, you’ve got a time period probably from now to say 3 years, where they are going to really start to make a mark on the industry. That’s going to be really exciting as that will then generate the interest in the area, generate this gravitational pull into the region and just watching and to be a part of that will be really exciting. In 5 years’ time, where do you think things will be from a technology perspective? From a regional perspective, we have to hope that these ‘break out’ companies in relation to competing on a world stage are anchor points for the region. That if you are in London or the west coast. People will recognise that they are midlands-based businesses and that there is something going on. The hope is that over a 3-5-year timescale you have those businesses that are recognisable to the tech sector. Are you a candidate looking for a new role in the Midlands, take a look at our latest tech jobs here. Businesses based in Birmingham looking to recruit tech talent? Get in touch with us via the form below. Form ID:4549

about 1 month ago

In issue 8 of our technology industry news update we cover a breach found in a biometrics system used by the UK police, Google finds evidence of a sustained hack on iPhones, NHS is set to launch a national AI lab, there's a rise in female students taking computing GCSE, UK Tech Start-ups receive a record amount foreign investment and much more... Breach found in a biometrics system used by UK police, Google finds cyber-attack on iPhones and Twitter CEO’s account has been hacked. Breach found in biometrics system used by UK police and defence firms A major breach has been identified in a biometrics system used by the UK police and defence firms. Fingerprints, facial recognition, passwords and other personal info of over 1 million people, were discovered on a publicly accessible database. The biometrics system Biostar 2 is the creation of security firm Suprema, with the purpose of allowing centralised control for access to secure facilities like warehouses or office buildings using fingerprints and facial recognition. Read more here about the breach of the biometrics system used by UK police and defence firms (The Guardian) 14/08/2019 Google finds evidence of iPhone hack covering the last two years Security researchers at Google are said to have found evidence of a sustained effort to hack iPhones over a period of two years. The hack was carried out using websites that would discreetly implant malicious software to gather contacts, images and other data. Google’s analysis shows that there was no target discrimination of the hack, and that by simply visiting the hacked site, it was enough for the exploit server to attack devices. Click here to read more about Google finding an ongoing iPhone hack (BBC News) 30/08/2019 Twitter CEO Account Hacked Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, has had his twitter account hacked by a group that calls itself the Chuckle Squad. After gaining access to his the Twitter CEO’s account, the group tweeted racial slurs, antisemitic messages, and at least one Holocaust denial. The tweets have now been deleted, but Twitter pointed the blame at the phone’s cell carrier, saying “the number associated with the account was compromised due to a security oversight by the mobile provider”. Click here to read more about the Twitter CEO’s Twitter account being hacked (TheVerge) 30/09/2019 Rise in female students taking up computing courses and NHS to set up AI lab. Significant increase in female students taking Computing GCSE New figures released by the JCQ show a significant increase in the number of females taking up GCSE computing – up more than 7% in the UK, with a 14% increase in the number of females choosing the STEM subject. Dominic Harvey, Director of CWJobs commented on the new figures stating “we’re seeing a rise in the number of girls taking computing; however, the majority taking the subject firmly remains boys. A great way to increase this is by promoting diversity of possible future careers subjects such as computing can lead to, that are outside redundant stereotypes.” Read more about the significant rise in female students taking computing GCSE here (EdTechnology) 22/08/2019 NHS to set up national Artificial Intelligence lab The NHS has plans to enhance the care of patients and research by setting up a national artificial intelligence lab. AI is already showing it’s potential to revolutionise medicine fields ranging from diagnosing patients, gathering new insights into diseases and improving how hospitals are run. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has announced £250m will be spent on boosting AI in the NHS stating that “The power of AI to improve medicine, to save lives, to improve the way treatments are done, the power is enormous.” However, aside from the many positive possibilities, does AI still pose a threat to protecting patient data? Read more about the NHS to set up an Artificial Intelligence lab here (BBC news) 08/08/2019 Rise in foreign investment for UK tech startups, Gartner forecasts IoT market for 2020 and BBC launches Alexa rival. UK Tech Start-ups receive a record amount in foreign investment New research shows that UK tech companies have secured a record amount (£5.5bn) in foreign investment in the first seven months of 2019. Experts are saying the weaker pound is drawing investors to the UK technology sector. This increase in foreign investment is positive news for the UK tech scene and comes as overall foreign direct investment in the UK is falling, amid Brexit uncertainty over Britain’s future trading arrangements with the EU. Click here to read more about the UK tech sector receiving a record amount of foreign investment (BBC News) 21/08/2019 Gartner forecast: 20% increase in IoT market by 2020 According to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. the enterprise and automotive Internet of Things (IoT) market will grow to 5.8 billion endpoints in 2020, an increase of 21% from 2019. The forecast also predicts that utilities will be the highest user of IoT endpoints, totalling 1.17 billion endpoints in 2019, and increasing 17% in 2020 to reach 1.37 billion endpoints. Click here to read more about Gartner’s IoT market forecast for 2020 (UKTN) 29/08/2019 BBC to launch voice assistant that will grasp UK regional accents The BBC have developed a rival to Amazon’s Alexa that will aim to understand British accents. The Beeb, will be BBC’s first voice assistant and will launch next year with a focus on enabling people to find their favourite programmes and interact with the BBC online services. To make sure the software will fully understand regional accents, the BBC will be asking staff in offices around the UK to record their voices. Click here to read more about the BBC voice assistant that will grasp UK regional accents (BBC News) 27/09/2019 Eligo blog of the month CV Buzzwords to avoid when applying for a new job Do you ever read a piece of content that is so over worded and full of corporate jargon that it no longer makes sense? Sometimes CV’s can be overloaded with an excess of keywords and catchphrases it can be hard to see the wood through the trees, bearing in mind that it takes less than a minute for hiring managers to read a CV and decide if you’re right for the role. When applying for a job you need to make sure your CV looks good and is easy to follow. Read here for buzzwords to avoid on your next CV application Upcoming events Tech Leaders Summit 2019 - 12/09/2019 Tech Leaders Summit provides a 360° high-level view of the technologies and trends most impacting organisations, and set to drive innovation in 2019 and beyond. Its 40+ renowned speakers are the cream of the crop of the IT world when it comes to demonstrating real business value from deploying technology in organisations both large and small. Read more here Women in Tech Festival - 17/09/2019 Women in Tech Festival is all about celebrating successful women in the IT industry, sharing personal experiences of their journeys and the challenges along the way. This one-day event will provide insight from how to create a professional you, to building and maintaining a successful team, and not to forget case studies involving cutting-edge technology. Read more here Deep Learning Summit 2019 - 19/09/2019 - 20/09/2019 Discover advances in deep learning and smart artificial intelligence from the world's leading innovators. Learn from the industry experts in speech & image recognition, neural networks and big data and much more at the Deep Learning Summit in London 2019. Read more here TechCon 2019 - 26/09/2019 TechCon 2019 is a unique and informative one-day APIL accredited conference that focuses on the very latest innovations and cutting-edge developments in medical and assistive technology. Read more here Our Technology news update regularly features supplier news, product launches, events, our own articles, and much more. Check back each month to catch up on the industry news affecting the Technology sector collated by our team of Technology consultants. If you would like to receive our monthly newsletter straight to your inbox, then sign up below! Form ID:4640 If you have a news article you would like featured in our industry news or would like to work with Eligo Technology to produce content please do not hesitate to get in touch. If you want to hear more news about the technology jobs market, contact us at technology@eligo.co.uk or follow us on twitter at @Eligchlo. You can also check out our page for the latest jobs in development, data, digital marketing, testing, IT support and more.

3 months ago

Tech Leaders Summit and Awards 2019

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Droidcon London 2019

London Engineering & Tech Careers Fair 2019

FinTech Connect 2019

Tech For Good Gathering - London 2019

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