Roundup of London Technology Week
London Technology Week brought a new glamour to the City of London. The best and the brightest shared their experiences and knowledge in the capital’s first ever week-long celebration of the technology sector.
Boris Johnson launched the event along with Michael Bloomberg, the former Mayor of New York, and Sir Michael Moritz, one of Silicon Valley’s most successful venture capitalists. Their appearance not only attracted media attention but also helped to boost the reputation of London as the new global epicentre for technological innovation.
There was a lot going on. The Internet World exhibition at the Excel was the biggest show, attracting thousands of visitors. It covered the most important issues impacting the digital age, including IT and security, big data and web design.
Tech City News hosted its very own International Hall of Fame Awards, celebrating the contributions that investors and developers from overseas have made to London’s successful tech scene.
The celebration took place at accelerator space Level 39 in Canary Wharf and was given a profile boost by a speech from business secretary Vince Cable. 20 awards, ranging from best backers and connectors to ones to watch, were handed out on the night. The entrepreneur of the year prize was awarded to Damian Kimmelman, founder of the financial data company Duedil.
Other events that grabbed the spotlight included a discussion on FinTech and how London is leading the way for financial technology and a fireside chat with Maria Ingold, CEO of the video on demand consultancy mireality, on the subject of women in tech.
London’s technology scene is growing rapidly. A report published by Oxford Economics last week claimed there are 34,000 tech companies in London today and in 10 years there will be another 11,000, creating 46,000 new jobs.
London Technology Week was a big hit but the capital has a lot of catching up to do. Silicon Valley is still a much larger tech hub and continues to nurture the world’s biggest innovations. But with the right backing from government, universities and businesses, anything is possible in London. It’s tech future is bright.