AppShed Launch Event, Cisco Innovation Gateway and the future of Mobile

AppShed Launch - April 6th 2011

Although this is a little bit delayed (launch was on 6^th April!) I think it’s great to do a quick review as AppShed are currently at Internet World (stand M5) this week and it has prompted me to do a quick review on the launch event of AppShed and the AppShed product.

The launch was at the AppShed offices in Rivington Street, Shoreditch and it was bustling with about 50 or so attendees from the Digital Media industry, primarily from the Shoreditch area.  After meeting Rob Sturgess (Business Development) and Torsten Stauch (Technical Architect) we had a short time to network with the digital agencies.  I was speaking to a consultant form Hertfordshire about how he is noticing the change that social media and mobile applications are having in even the most unusual sectors, particularly pharmaceuticals where he predominantly does a lot of his work.

After a short network break, we were then straight into the event, with the AppShed team introducing what AppShed is all about.  In a nutshell, AppShed is a web based interface which enables users to create mobile phone Apps without the complicated programming language requirements.  The user can use the intuitive GUI to upload images for their app, create menus, populate a Google map with locations, link through to external websites like YouTube and much more.  

During the launch event as well, Russell Craig (Cisco IBSG) presented on the recent announcement on their British Innovation Gateway project and their involvement in the East London Tech City.  The BIG programme is going to incorporate a number of initiatives, these include;  

• Innovation centre in Shoreditch 
• Innovation and Incubation Centre at the Olympic Park 
• Cisco iPrize 
• The Cisco National Virtual Incubator project 
• Business Acquisitions

The general feel of Cisco’s involvement in East London were positive, the idea of having innovative technology companies, such as Cisco, investing in Shoreditch was seen as a positive move and demonstrates the quality of British businesses in the Old Street and Shoreditch area.  Russell explained that the BIG programme is still in the early stages and more will be happening in the coming months in Shoreditch with the plan for Cisco to establish a base in the Old Street area - so watch this space for more information on the Cisco BIG programme.

We then had Sunil Gunderia (AppShed’s Business Advisor, Mentor at SeedCamp and ex-VP of Digital Media at Disney) presented on the future of mobile Apps – this was really insightful and hugely interesting.  Sunil highlighted the shift which is currently happening from desktops and laptops to Smartphones and tablets and how Apps can be developed to interact with customers and employees.  

Sunil presented facts around how the Smartphone market is set to double in the next 4 years with 1 billion Smartphones predicted to be sold in 2015 and 4 billion to be sold in the 5 years leading up to 2015.  Sunil also explained that Smartphone usage in the consumer market is growing, which is creating more localised searching (one third of searches on mobiles are for local businesses).  

Smartphones in the consumer market are also not really phones, majority of usage is web browsing, App usage and listening to music.  There was a scary moment when Sunil explained that Apps can access mail, contacts, location, text messages and much more to boot; the power to businesses being able to access such information for advertising is huge – the question is how do you harness this and make it work for your commercial business or Public Sector organisation?  

With eCommerce being integrated into mobile Apps as well, it makes it easier for users to buy what they want, when they want – businesses that are doing this are seeing a spike in the revenues, which is driving up retail sales globally by $330B.

My take away from Sunil’s presentation - The power of mobile internet, Apps and social media, is driving a change in consumer behaviour that is unprecedented - the conundrum facing businesses in 2011, is how do we adapt our business models in order catch this changing trend early and then hold on long enough to enjoy the ride?

But the most impressive part of the morning session was Rob holding his nerve and actually building a mobile phone App live using the online AppShed platoform – the risk for something to go wrong is huge - but, the robust AppShed platform delivered and Rob managed to build an App in about 30 minutes – truly remarkable to see the ease and the speed he managed it.

After another short networking break it was then time to break off into small workshop setups to build our own Apps using AppShed.  The interface was very easy to use and people really enjoyed the process.

The launch event was on the hole was spot on and there were some really exciting things happening with the Cisco investment and the innovation and thought behind the AppShed product – good event and congratulations to the AppShed guys for demonstrating the talent that Shoreditch has to offer.

For more information on AppShed – check here

For more information on the Cisco BIG Programme – check here

To see Sunil’s presentation – check here

The new Enterprise Zones for London and the UK

After a long break off due to bank holidays, royal weddings and a few days actually booked holidays - thought I would get back on the horse and write a new article - flavor of the week today - the New Enterprise Zones in the UK.

What is an Enterprise Zone?

The concept of an Enterprise Zone started in the US and migrated to the UK in the late 1980's in the days of Margaret Thatcher.  The main purpose for these enterprise zones is to stimulate the economy by encouraging business start ups and local investments through reduced taxes, reduced business rates, relaxed planning rules for developments, access to finances and venture capitalists and super fast connectivity  - the most notable and successful enterprise zone is the London Docklands around Canary Wharf.  Only 30 years ago the docklands was a run down area with poor transport links, now it is one of the busiest financial districts in the world.

Where will the new Enterprise Zones be?

In 2011 George Osborne announced that they are planning 21 new Enterprise Zones across the UK with the aim to boost the UK economy - the first of these zones will be in Leeds, Sheffield, Liverpool, Greater Manchester, the west of England, the north-east of England, Tees Valley, Nottinghamshire, the West Midlands Conurbation and Derbyshire - There will also be a new Enterprise Zone in London near the Royal Docks in the London Borough of Newham.

What next?

With these new enterprise zones taking shape and more to be announced it must only be a good thing for the UK economy and especially new start ups and large firms alike.  The government is also planning to create more funding available for new start ups through the Technology Strategy Board and offering start up advice through Start up Britain at least we can say the government is trying to start growth.

TechHub - Shoreditch, East London

In my last post I mentioned the innovation centre in East London called TechHub, so this week I thought it would be good to tell people a bit more about TechHub, its location and why it is an awesome place to go and check out.

If you are new to the Shoreditch Tech scene and your a product orientated tech start up, then the TechHub on the Silicon Roundabout is a good first port of call - it provides a great place for new tech businesses or people who think they have a good idea to meet local entrepreneurs in East London.  They can be found in the heart of the action in Shoreditch, right by Old Street Roundabout.

TechHub run lots of events out of their Shoreditch based location - for more details check their calender - but if you want to see the member calendar then you have to sign up and join the network of entrepreneurs.



TechHub is the brain child of Elizabeth Varley  with strategy advice from Mike Butcher (Mike was one of the first people are started following on twitter and has proved very knowledgeable on all things tech and start up!) - both who still are and have been involved in the tech scene for many years, with Elizabeth being involved in various SMEs and running her own personal projects and Mike currently writes for TechCrunch and various other publications. 

TechHub offers new tech start ups desk spaces, collaboration space, meeting rooms and event space for tech related launch events.  Although Shoreditch is the first TechHub location, there are plans to expand to other locations across the globe - to enable tech start ups to have the 'just bumped into factor'.

All in all, this is a great resource for all tech product orientated start ups in the Shoreditch area - if you are going to check out one place in Shoreditch for networking and advice, make sure TechHub is at the top of the list!

What is an Innovation Center?

The term innovation centre can mean a number of things - its a word used to describe office space where lots of similar businesses are.  They normally consists of a mix of open work areas where people can collaborate and bat ideas around, run networking events, meet Venture Capitalist and run an annual conference with lots of awards.  There also innovation centres spreading across lots of different industries; from biology, furniture, business, Digital Media etc.  The idea of innovation centres is to bring together like minded individuals to share ideas and create the future.

The TechHub in Shoreditch is a great example of a innovation centre for new tech start-ups and it really does act as a springboard for these news businesses - and bearing in mind that 80% of people are employed by SMEs, they are vitally important to the UK and global economy.

So what is all this noise about innovation centres in the news from the government about Shoreditch and the Olympic Park?  Are these any different?
 
The type of innovation centres which have been established in Birmingham and potentially arriving in the other planned Urban Enterprise Zones will have technology at the heart of it, not just the businesses actually in the buildings, but the entire building will be a smart building - it will monitor energy consumption, it will run intelligent door access and CCTV, it will have fast connectivity, it will be a place to collaborate it will be a different place to work, and furthermore, it will be connected to other Innovation centres to create a smart + connect community of innovative entrepreneurs and business leaders all over the UK, Europe and the globe linking up forward thinking start-ups, SMEs, BlueChips and VCs.

But in all honesty, innovation cannot be described , it is an intangible, unquantifiable notion, it is not just the created environment - the open space, the businesses who work there, the VCs that are present - it is the individuals that actually go to work there every day, people who know no bounds to the imagination and what is possible in their area of expertise - the thing that does make the difference as well, is the backing they have - when companies like Cisco, Google, Microsoft have put some skin in the game and you have government backing, whether it is financial or other, the sky literally is the limit - no matter where in the UK you are.

Innovation is not a concept, it is a journey.... and it depends who is on the ride with you that counts.

The British Innovation Gateway, Shoreditch, London

I have been speaking to a lot of people recently who have been asking me - what is the British Innovation Gateway?  Many people don’t get it, understand it and most believe it is just some more hot air from the conservative government, similar to the Big Society that David Cameron has been harping on about.

But seriously it isn't!  I live in East London between the Silicon Roundabout of Old Street and the new Olympic park in Stratford and there is a buzz about the place - businesses want to do business with people in Shoreditch because they are in Shoreditch which is the Silicon Valley of the UK.

The question still remains, what is it?  Basically, it is a government led initiative to try a boost the UK economy through SMEs already in the UK and trying to attractive new businesses to set up shop in the UK.  which, quiet to be honest, is a good initiative.

The British Innovation Gateway will also make use of the Olympic investment as well by creating a 'Innovation Centre' (I will blog about what an Innovation Centre is in another post) in the Media and Press Centre at the Stratford Olympic park - again another great initiative to develop East London after the Olympics.

It is also attracting other investment, not just from the government, but also from some of the big blue chips of this world - Google and Intel speculated to be moving in...but so far only Cisco seems to have put some skin in the game with their $500 million (£341 million) investment - I am sure this will be set to change as the project starts moving forward.

But the general feel in East London currently, it is a good thing - businesses like the prospect of having access to investment to help move them forward, prize money for innovation, publicity, people looking to tech businesses in Shoreditch because....it is Shoreditch and with money sloshing around from the big players, maybe even the possibility of being acquired is stimulating some Directors on the scene.

That's all for now - but more to come on this topic, so stayed tuned....