Don't miss a big announcement or the latest developments in the NI tech and business scene. Here are the top 10 most popular Northern Ireland Sync NI tech stories from February 2020
February may be a short month, but the NI tech scene crammed some big news into it this year. It's been a fantastic month for tech job announcements, with Slyce, Bazaarvoice, and several others announcing expansion plans for the year ahead. The future is also looking bright for MedTech firm Axial3D, which was named Health Technology leader in 2020 Global Digital Health 100 list.
US Health firm Alfac revealed plans for a major facility in Belfast Harbour, the NI Cyber Security Centre officially launched at the Queen's CSIT in the Titanic Quarter, and Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University were also granted £2.1m to build a high performance computing facility in the McClay library. Planning permission was also finally submitted for the new Kainos headquarters on the Dublin Road.
February has similarly been a month for celebrating some big local wins: A Belfast entrepreneur won the Belfast man won an award from Dragon Theo Paphitis, low-code web development platform Budibase raised a six-figure investment, and Novosco completed the first stage of a multi-million NHS contract.
Tech firm Kainos today announced it is seeking the planning permission for its new headquarters to be located at Bankmore Square, Dublin Road in the former Movie House Cinema building. The new office development will support the company’s ongoing expansion and recruitment drive.
The digital services firm expects that the development will provide around 150 jobs during the construction phase. Kainos' new workplace will allow its Belfast-based workforce of over 700 people to relocate one central location. Currently the employees are working across multiple office spaces in south Belfast. [Continue Reading]
Belfast digital retailer Paul McCaw has received Paphitis’s Small Business Sunday award from Dragon’s Den entrepreneur, Theo Paphitis and will soon be travelling to Birmingham to meet the Dragon himself.
Paul is the managing director of SubbyTech, an online provider of high-end portable charger banks and accessories for mobile phones and other devices. As Theo tweets these awards to over half a million of his online followers, Paul is “delighted” and said it has “already given our company a great boost by showcasing our products to corporate customers.” [Continue Reading]
New-York based tech firm Slice announced today that it will be creating an additional 20 jobs in Northern Ireland following its recent office expansion in Belfast.
Slice is a digital technology platform that connects pizza lovers with independent pizzerias right across the United States – it is currently the only one of its kind. Through the Slice website or iOS and Android apps, people can easily order from their favourite family-owned pizzerias and support local shop owners in the process. [Continue Reading]
Bazaarvoice has announced plans to create at least 50 new jobs in its Belfast office over the next nine months as the office is poised to become the firm's first international R&D lab.
Bazaarvoice has really made a name for itself in the NI tech scene since its Belfast office opened in 2017, growing to acquire 58 staff and helping to support local tech events and diversity invitiatives. The company develops a rating and reviews system used on retail websites around the world, and has been working on advances such as tech that uses AI to help spot fake reviews.
CEO Keith Nealon recently travelled from the firm's US headquarters in Austin, Texas, on his first visit to the Northern Ireland office, where he announced ambitious plans for the coming year ... [Continue Reading]
US health insurance firm Aflac has signed a 10-year lease with Belfast Harbour to create its Global IT and Cybersecurity Innovation Centre at City Quays.
The Fortune 500 company aims to create 130 jobs at the 11,000 sq. ft. office space by 2023. Aflac announced the plans for the new centre in October 2019 as part of its multimillion-pound investment in Northern Ireland. It stated then that the average salary of the upcoming job roles would be £45,000 per annum. [Continue Reading]
Local medical 3D printing company Axial3D has been recognised as a global health technology leader in the 2020 Global Digital Health 100 list.
Belfast-based medtech firm Axial3D had a fantastic 2019, securing millions in funding and winning awards at the European DatSci Awards and Platinum Awards. It looks like the company is off to a great start in 2020 too, as it's now been named in the 2020 Global Digital Health 100 list as a global Healthcare Technology leader.
The annual Global Digital Health 100 list recognises some of the most innovative medtech startups around the world ... [Continue Reading]
A new Cyber Security Centre was officially launched in Belfast today, which will provide advice to citizens and businesses, helping them become more “cyber resilient.”
Based in Queen’s Centre for Secure IT in the Titanic Quarter, the centre will help deliver the NI government’s ‘Cyber Security: A Strategic Framework for Action’ document. In it is what top level areas need to be addressed through collaborative working across the public and private sectors.
The centre will work closely with a range of partners including the National Cyber Security Centre, the PSNI Cyber Crime Unit, academia and ... [Continue Reading]
Local tech start-up Budibase has closed a six-figure development round to develop its new low-code web-development platform.
Belfast today has a record number of software development companies, but a significant gap still exists between the number of qualified people that industry needs and the graduates pouring out of local universities. Many local tech firms are offering earn-as-you-learn type schemes or are promoting coding upskilling within their workforce to get more people into development roles.
Budibase is building a potential solution for web-development that requires no actual code to be written, allowing designers without coding experience to work directly on functional web applications using an intuitive click-based UI. ... [Continue Reading]
A collaboration between Queen's University Belfast and Ulster University will see the creation of a new state-of-the-art computing facility at the QUB McClay library.
Scientific research in fields such as artificial intelligence or chemical engineering can require vast amounts of computing power to run simulations or analyse massive data sets, whether it's pure research at a local university or product development in industry. Many firms use costly cloud-based systems or remote data centres for their computing needs, but local infrastructure would be preferred. ... [Continue Reading]
Belfast-based tech firm Novosco has completed the first phase of a multi-million pound project for one of the largest NHS trusts in the UK.
In June 2018 Novosco secured the £107m contract to manage IT infrastructure and support services for Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust. It runs Addenbrooke and The Rosie's hospitals.Novosco - which was recently acquired by Munich-based CANCOM Group - is now the trust’s primary IT infrastructure service and support supplier.
The IT company announced it had "safely and successfully delivered operational service commencement by November 2019, both on time and on budget" ... [Continue Reading]
