WIREDGOV

Simon Spier gives an overview of all the events he attended on day one of LTW - London is most certainly open

London Tech Week kicked off with a bang with a host of inspiring leaders from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, highlighting London’s central place on the world’s tech scene at the launch event. However, the event had a very different flavour to previous years with half the room occupied by school students – the future of our tech economy. Those students were able to hear the opportunity first-hand for them to shape the UK’s tech landscape. Those in attendance, young and the not so young, heard about the impact of technologies on the Capital, from AI opportunities in healthcare to smart city applications. It certainly was an inspiring way to start the week.

Following the launch event, I headed off to the “Fuelling collaboration: China & UK Blockchain” event, where I was honoured to give the keynote speech. The event, hosted by GSMA and organised by BGTA, the Cambridge Blockchain Society and XChain, explored the blockchain ecosystems of both the UK and China, and shined a light on the collaboration potential for the industry across the two countries. I came away with a real appreciation for the various use cases for blockchain as well as the exciting opportunity for UK-China collaboration in this space.

My evening was spent at City Hall meeting a number of international companies who are looking at expanding to the UK at an event organised by DIT and London and Partners. The Reception held in the beautiful London’s Living Room provided the perfect backdrop for discussions about the ability for tech companies to thrive in the UK.

Today sees techUK host it’s Selling into Public Sector event which will provide those in attendance the opportunity to understand how UK Government procurement works, what are the opportunities, how to overcome the challenges and tips on how to secure business.