I spent some time last week down at the TechXLR8 conference at London’s Excel Centre and there was certainly a lot to absorb, from the latest tech trends, developments in the market and new ideas.
From shaking a robot hand (pleased to say that technology gave us a smiley face for our shaking efforts) to witnessing a full 360 degree virtual reality car crash, TechXLR8 was full of the latest technological revelations.
How far we have come with virtual reality technology was clear from the explosion of incredible demos available to witness across the main floor. There was a truly eye-catching stand from Rivr -a VR company who have partnered with the fire and rescue services to deliver a post-fire rescue experience designed to help train firefighters in a safer and more tailored environment. The impact of this for the rescue staff members that were present at the conference was clear from their high praise of the technology and how it was going to affect their work. Speaking to the creators of the technology it is clear that VR is going to impact many industries, including insurers who are considering how the influence of better training under safer circumstances will affect the premiums and claims systems.
Another clear stand out from the conference that could rock the boat in the world of insurance was the developments in driverless and connective cars. One noticeboard stated that ‘the modern car has 100 million lines of code and over half of new vehicles will be connected by 2020.’ It’s well known that the notion of how to insure a driverless car has been a hot topic of debate recently with companies like AXA pairing up with driverless car companies on how to move this forward. And by the looks of things, the tech companies aren’t looking to slow down development.
However, the increase of connected cars might be another area where insurers need to take a closer look. Talking to some of the developers and engineers behind the creations, it’s clear that whilst we are able to pack in more exciting features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and even gaming into the dashboard of a car, some insurance companies are hiking prices on such advances, arguing it could be distracting whilst driving. Either way, it was clear at TechXLR8 that we are speeding into the future of how we travel on our roads.
Another one of the clear front-runners was the use of blockchain within our financial sectors. Two impressive talks by Richard Crook, head of innovation engineering at RBS and David Janczewski from the Royal Mint helped us to understand how cryptocurrencies were being used in the London and UK economies. The amazing DAO system that Richard Crook described was an insight that proves that whilst cryptocurrencies only make up a tiny amount of our current trading, their potential is enormous. Major UK banks and financial services companies are clearly putting their interest in blockchain for the future and it seems the tech industry is only too happy to cooperate as we’ve seen with some the demand for the niche skillets in recent recruitment projects.
As Sadiq Khan said at the opening of London Tech Week, "London is open for Technology", and with the tech sector boosting the London economy by £18 billion this year alone with over 200,000 people employed into the technology sector, it’s clearly making massive strides.
However, on the second day of the event, one of the smaller stages suggested there was a part of technology that still had a long way to go. The Diversity stage boasted a range of panels and speakers from start-ups, UK banks and online entertainment. When talking of diversity, the issues of women in technology aren’t new but when women occupy just 17% of tech jobs and fewer than one in ten of these women are in leadership positions, something clearly needs to change. With too many notable speakers to list, this was definitely a stand-out stage and one that needs to be recognised.
As the proud owner of two female-focused technology meetups with over 200 female developers in London, I was pleased to be able to contribute to the discussion! My meet-up, Code (f.) welcomes all those in the technology space who want to learn, contribute to the community and talk diversity within tech. With the issues of gender and race in tech teams across London still clearly a topic for concern, it was nice to see an entire section of TechXLR8 dedicated to the debate.
My team at Eames is dedicated to being up to date with the latest technology trends and upcoming ideas –as you can see from my live tweets from the event (check out @TechnologyEames). We’ve got a genuine passion for the sector, but we also want to be in the best position to give the advice and support to our existing and upcoming clients.
Understanding the technology our customers are using allows us to provide them with the best talent for their team and the best opportunities for their needs.
Overall, there was a great feeling of positivity towards where the market is going, and I am certainly excited to see the impact it has on hiring in the sector, and how organisations can take a fresh approach to talent that could reinvigorate the industry.
Massive thanks to TechXLR8 for having us and all of the companies and speakers involved!
