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 November 2020.
November 2020 will be remembered as an important month in MedTech with the announcement of the first Covid-19 vaccines demonstrated to be safe for general use, beginning our region's slow climb back to normality. It was also a great month for the NI tech scene as a whole, with Northern Ireland singled out for some impressive accolades and celebrating major tech investments.
Belfast joined a list of 35 cities around the world selected to pioneer a new global plan for ethical and responsible use of smart city tech, and our triving FinTech industry was highlighted in a new report. Queen's University Belfast was also specifically ranked the number 1 university in the entire UK for creating successful spin-out tech companies.
Other major news that hit in November included global firm Aflac celebrating its first year in Northern Ireland, Venture Capital firm Par Equity setting its sights on the NI tech scene, and a new consortium created to use blockchain tech in the NI AgriTech sector. We also saw some fantastic efforts by local people to help boost shopping at local businesses this year.
First Covid-19 vaccine trial is '90% effective of protection'
A preliminary analysis has suggested that the first Covid-19 vaccine can prevent more than 90% of people from getting the disease.
The vaccine has far exceeded the expectations of many medical experts and its developers - Pfizer and BioNTech - described it as a "great day for science and humanity". Their vaccine has been tested on 43,500 people in six countries with no safety concerns raised to date, and the companies plan to apply for emergency approval to use the vaccine by the end of the month. [Continue Reading]
Belfast selected as global pioneer city for smart city tech plans
Belfast has joined a list of 35 cities around the world that will be pioneering a new global policy plan for ethical and responsible adoption of smart city tech.
Some of the most tech-savvy cities around the world have been investing heavily in smart city tech, which aims to transform urban living by using live data to improve everything from traffic flow and power management to policing and public transport. These technologies are continuing to roll out throughout the world, and Belfast's burgeoning tech sector makes it a potential hotspot for smart city development.
While smart city technology can bring significant benefits to the population, it also has the potential for serious abuse. Critics of smart city strategies often warn that the focus on general efficiency doesn't necessarily put people's best interests forward. Cities may not be optimising for disability accessibility, and high levels of data collection have raised concerns over privacy. [Continue Reading]
New report highlights thriving fintech sector in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland’s fintech ecosystem has been found to have the highest concentration of employment in the UK, according to a new report by Whitecap Consulting in partnership with FinTechNI.
The report found that NI is home to an estimated 7,000 fintech related roles, with one in five people working across the financial and tech sectors working specifically in fintech.
Based on research completed over the last three months, which involved engaging with over 50 stakeholders, the report is the first formally published analysis of the fintech ecosystem in Northern Ireland. It highlights core strengths in RegTech and Compliance, TradingTech, InsureTech, cybersecurity, AI and advanced analytics. [Continue Reading]
QUB ranked #1 UK university for creating successful spin-out companies
Queen’s University Belfast has been recognised as the #1 UK university for generating spinout companies in a new report by Octopus Ventures.
Queen's University is known for being much more heavily focused on research than other local universities and colleges, and it frequently wins major research grants. Cutting-edge research often results in innovative new technologies that can be spun-out into their own business ventures and commercial products.
The university has now taken the top spot on a new Entrepreneurial Impact report published by Octopus Ventures. The investment firm collected data on on the production of new intellectual property, creation of spinout companies, and successful financial exits resulting from universities across the UK. [Continue Reading]
New consortium uses blockchain technology to support NI agri-food
NSF International, a global public health and safety organisation and certification body for food industries, is teaming up with key industry experts to build a new agri-food supply chain system called NSF Verify™.
The platform is an animal identification and traceability solution that digitally records the journey of an animal from birth to consumption and holds real-time data in a secure blockchain-enabled database.
After witnessing an on-farm demonstration at the Acton House Farm in Poyntzpass, Northern Ireland, Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots MLA said he was supportive of technologies that would assist livestock farmers to ensure the accuracy and timeliness of animal traceability records. [Continue Reading]
Venture capital firm Par Equity sets its eyes on Belfast tech
Venture capital firm Par Equity has decided to set up a new regional network in Belfast aimed at investing in early stage tech companies.
Northern Ireland's tech scene has drawn considerable investment interest over the past several years, with a rapidly growing number of new tech start-ups releasing new innovations in data, IoT, MedTech, FinTech and more. Venture capital firm Par Equity has now set its sights on NI tech with the launch of a new regional investment network centred on Belfast.
Par Equity manages a global network of investors and keeps close eyes on the tech scene, looking specifically for early stage disruptive technology companies with the potential to scale up rapidly and become huge. It made its first NI investment in 2012 with digital pathology firm PathXL Limited, and more recently added NI tech firms BrainWaveBank, Datactics and Plotbox to its portfolio. [Continue Reading]
Sonrai Analytics co-founder a ‘top European entrepreneur in AI’
Belfast-based artificial intelligence company (AI) Sonrai Analytics co-founder Deva Senevirathne has been recognised as one of the top three European female entrepreneurs in AI by the Women in AI Awards 2020.
Sponsored by Capgemini, the prize was created to inspire women to take part in AI-related career paths and to recognize the talented women who have launched AI related start-ups. Queen’s University PhD student Deva has surpassed 170 entrants from 38 countries and 80+ cities to reach second place. [Continue Reading]
Aflac celebrates its first year in Northern Ireland and new jobs
Aflac NI is celebrating its first year in Northern Ireland following the opening of its state-of-the-art new IT and cyber-security hub.
Fortune 500 company Aflac Incorporated took its first tentative steps into Northern Ireland's tech scene back in October 2019 when it opened a temporary office at River House in Belfast. Now a year on, Aflac Northern Ireland is growing rapidly with 65 employees on board and a new 11,000 square foot office.
The company set itself a target of recruiting 150 local tech staff by 2023, but is already ahead of target after hiring 65 staff. It's also opened a state-of-the-art office at Belfast's City Quays to become a global IT and cyber-security innovation centre, and has signed a 10-year lease with Belfast Harbour for the space. [Continue Reading]
NI marketing grad sources map of local businesses for Christmas shopping
Northern Irish marketing graduate David Clarke has created a map of local Northern Irish businesses to support this Christmas.
November would normally be the month that people start keeping an eye out for Christmas gifts and making trips to the high street to find what we need, but the pandemic has decimated city centre footfall. As we prepare to potentially spend the holiday in lockdown, most of us have turned to online shopping to get what we need.
A group of Reddit users collaborated to come up with a list of all the local businesses that are still open for Christmas shopping, broken down by category or gift type. David Clarke then turned the list into a map showing business locations, allowing people to shop hyper locally if they want to. [Continue Reading]
Holywood man creates Support Local NI business site
A Holywood man has created a tech-for-good project to help support and sustain local NI businesses through the upcoming Christmas shopping period. Matt Stevenson founded Support Local NI, which allows local businesses to be listed on his new website for free.
His aim is to aid small businesses that may be facing negative financial implications in the lead-up to the seasonal period, due to Covid-19's effects.
Matt told Sync NI: "Having had my own family affected by the impact of Covid-19 on local businesses, I was inspired to try and do my part to help in some way! I have a number of partnerships with ‘prominent’ local businesses and I am receiving submissions for all types of local businesses every day." [Continue Reading]
