Learning curve

I had the pleasure of attending the TLA event at Bloomberg offices in London on 28th October. It was a great event, capably compered by Oli Barrett. He was an engaging and enthusiastic devil’s advocate for the evening and as a result we got to the nub of a lot of issues.

What became very clear from the event is that we struggle in London and the UK with a shortage of skills at all levels. We benefitted from so many speakers who were passionate and knowledgeable about their subjects. Those that stood out were: Ruben Kostucki, Makers Academy; Katarina Jones, Startup Institute; Mark Fawcett, National Schools Partnership; Mark Martin, Urban Teacher; Maggie Philbin, TeenTech

Early on Maggie Philbin gave a great overview of the work she is doing as part of her role in the UK Digital Skills Taskforce about digital skills for young people. Although we now have coding taught in schools, it still hasn’t addressed the issue of young people and their parents not knowing what jobs people actually do in the digital/tech sector and what it means for their educational choices. A great takeaway for me from Maggie, ‘Never underestimate your own power to make a difference’.

Following that we had a great panel talking about what is available to those starting out or wanting to retrain. It looked at how graduates are equipped (or not) in this new world and whether the universities are knowledgeable enough of the emerging technologies and platforms. Finally, we had a great panel of those on the front line of teaching who were very open and honest about the support they needed from the private sector to help children train for the future.

If you are a TLA, you can help with addressing these issues by joining one of the working groups: MadTech (Marketing and Advertising); HealthTech; Going for Growth; Infrastructure; Talent and Immigration; Women in London Tech; Education. If you aren’t and want to get involved, I would be happy to introduce you to Russ.

Ghilaine

@LadyGhilaine

The Network Effect!

Have you heard about the Tech London Advocates? The aim is to support technology start-ups in finding new investment, new talent and achieving high growth.

The idea has been built by Russ Shaw, with a little help from his friends (and extensive network of supporters) to bring his vision to life. The priority focus for TLA in the 1st years is to set an agenda that will accelerate growth of the private sector in London and demonstrate that bringing together the start-up community with larger businesses can deliver real success.

Russ is extremely passionate about what he is building and sees what can happen when you bring people together for a common goal. He has some significant sponsors on his journey and the Advocate list is growing daily. Advocates are recommended by an existing member of the group and he asks them to agree to 3 things:

• Promote the vision of TLA
• Help one another for the ‘greater good’
• In time, introduce a new Advocate

All this, by extension will build a vibrant tech sector for London

Russ is a big believer in the ‘Network Effect’ and how by helping and connecting people, great things happen. He should know, he has grown Tech London Advocates membership to be over 1000 strong in 18 months. He is building momentum with great partnerships and an amazing amount of generosity on behalf of the advocates.

All this to build the culture of innovation embodied by London’s tech entrepreneurs and make London the place to be if you want to be on the bleeding edge of technology!

Ghilaine

@LadyGhilaine