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.
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.
http://londontechnologyweek.co.uk
