SIGN UP OR MISS OUT: Business supporting events
Unleashing Innovation with IoT & Big Data for Startups and SMEs
As the COVID 19 crisis has unfolded, products and services have been digitising at a rapid pace. Is it time for your business to identify new sources of growth and to seriously consider digital transformation?
Our key speakers will be addressing how VR, AR and Mixed Reality (XR) can provide meaningful business benefits to your company, with real-life case studies from companies who have adopted this technology.
Understand how to adopt this technology and understand more about the return on investment (RoI) and identifying solutions to your challenges around immersive technologies
Fri 26 Feb 2021 10am
Find out more and register here: Unleashing Innovation with IoT & Big Data for Startups and SMEs Tickets, Fri 26 Feb 2021 at 10:00 | Eventbrite
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Digital Manufacturing Trade Mission at Virtual UK Tech Week, Turkey
Join the Department for International Trade (DIT) and Midlands Engine with a virtual exhibition stand to have the opportunity to meet with potential buyers in Turkey and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA) region.
16th- 18th February
Find out more and register here: Digital Manufacturing Trade Mission at UK Tech Week, Turkey (eventscloud.com)
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 Telford-based Protolabs to acquire 3D Hubs
Digital manufacturer Protolabs is set to make a new online acquisition
Protolabs, which has its European headquarters in Telford, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 3D Hubs, an online manufacturing platform that provides engineers with on-demand access to a global network of about 240 premium manufacturing partners.
The transaction creates the world’s most comprehensive digital manufacturing offer for custom parts, providing Protolabs with a network of manufacturing partners to fulfill a breadth of capabilities outside of its current envelope, as well as a broader offering of pricing and lead time options.
Founded in 2013, 3D Hubs has facilitated the production of over six million custom parts and products through its digital platform. 3D Hubs provides customers with instant pricing and design feedback, and orders are fulfilled through thoroughly vetted premium manufacturing partners in over 20 countries worldwide.
More info here Telford-based Protolabs to acquire 3D Hubs | Shropshire Star
 New innovation will help entrepreneurs
Telford Growth Hub Guru Consultants Good 2 Great have introduced an exciting innovation to help people who are setting up their own companies. Good2Great, based in Bridgnorth, specialise in providing support and guidance to new enterprises and established firms. It has just launched a pioneering scanning tool which will give a boost to its ‘step up’ programme for new companies.
“We think we are one of very few consultancies in the UK to be using the new ‘E-Scan’ tool,” said Sally Themans of Good2Great.
“It has been pioneered by Dr. Martijn Driessen in the Netherlands where it is already producing great results.
“We have all received training in order to be able to guide would-be business people and interpret results. “As business coaches we can’t rely on gut feeling alone when assessing new entrepreneurs and their ideas. “This personality test has been developed to check if people are up to being their own boss – it will uncover their entrepreneurial potential and skills."
Read the full article via Shropshire Live at: https://www.shropshirelive.com/business/2021/01/20/new-innovation-will-help-entrepreneurs/
 West Midlands Combined Authority unveils plan for region’s digital future
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has launched its plan to give the region a digital reboot, with an aim to tackle digital exclusion, reach net zero and support a post-Covid recovery.
The WMCA Digital Roadmap was presented at Venturefest West Midlands, one of the region’s top business events for digital entrepreneurs. This year’s keynote speaker was Ben Francis, the West Midlands-based founder of billion-dollar sportswear brand Gymshark.
The plan outlines five missions to digitise the region, including becoming the UK’s best digitally connected region and increasing access to digital opportunities by tackling digital exclusion. The plan will build on the successes of the region’s 5G testbed and its innovation in transport, and make the most unique regional opportunities like HS2, the Commonwealth Games, and Coventry City of Culture.
WMCA unveils plan for region’s digital future
 Why Doesn’t the UK embrace Robotics as much as other nations? Telford’s Bauromat responds to the data
Late last year the International Federation for Robotics, the leading robotic process automation group, released the annual robotic density figures for 2019 and it made for grim reading for the UK market.
Bauromat UK Limited Managing Director John D’Angelillo also adds that the UK suffers from a more general ‘mentality’ problem when it comes to investment in new technologies.
“The number of times we hear ‘we’ve done it this way for so long, we don’t feel the need for change’, but if you’re not moving forward with technology you’re going to get left behind.
“We’re the nation of the industrial revolution, innovators on a global scale yet at this next advancement in technology we’re dragging our heels and remaining in the dark ages. There’s only one way to keep up, and that is automation".
Read the full article here: Why Doesn't The UK Embrace Robotics as Much as Other Nations? (bauromat.com)
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How Covid turbocharged the QR revolution
Our customers love it," says Michael Schatzberg, the co-founder of a US restaurant group.
He is talking about using QR codes (quick response codes), a technology from the 1990s, which is proving to be very useful in the Covid era.
Many restaurants have turned to the tech, which allows customers to see a menu, order and pay just by pointing their smartphone at the black, barcode-like squares.
"They don't have to wait. They can just pay and leave without asking for the bill," says Mr Schatzberg, whose restaurants include Duke's and Big Daddy's in New York.
QR codes were invented in Japan in the mid-90s to track components in car production.
They can hold a massive amount of data compared to standard barcodes - up to 2,500 numeric characters compared to a barcode's 43.
That means really useful information, including names, locations and website addresses can all be reliably and cheaply held in one small box.
How Covid turbocharged the QR revolution - BBC News (ampproject.org)
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The coronavirus outbreak has created uncertainty across all sectors, but how specifically has it affected women working in the tech industry?
Although it is not entirely clear why, the latest data from BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT, indicates that, in contrast with other industries, the number of women employed in the UK tech sector has risen slightly over the past year.
More women than ever are working in IT roles across the UK (326,000 in total) and now make up a record 20% share of the specialist IT workforce - according to new analysis from BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT.
The proportion of women in specialist computing roles increased to its highest ever level this summer, rising to 20% from 17% at the same point in 2019, the professional body for IT found.
However, black women are still heavily under-represented in IT and, by comparison, across other occupations their level of representation is 2.5 times higher.
Record numbers of women in IT - but black women still under-represented, new research finds | BCS
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