9th-15th November 2020
Bristol’s Technology Festival was born in 2019 seeking to showcase the sheer breadth of technology that had been developed in the local ecosystem, and share the stories of those entrepreneurs, engineers and creatives behind the technology with the people of the city, and further afield. It seeks to destroy any barriers between technology businesses, their suppliers, educational and charity organisations and the residents of the community that they live and work in.
With 2020 marking the start of a new decade, we ask what will the next decade see for the Bristol Tech Cluster? And, how can we influence it for the better of society, and the environment. Bristol Technology Festival now seeks to capture peoples’ hopes and predictions for the next decade. In what ways will technology influence how we live and work? What impact will the tech cluster have locally, and globally?
This decade has started with a shock, that will surely change the direction of the tech cluster and echoes of it will continue to be felt far beyond the current crisis. But technological ingenuity has never led a straight path.
So, we’re inviting you to come on a journey with us, to share your aspirations of where you’d like to see the Bristol Tech Cluster in the next decade. Then join us every year, until 2030, whatever sector, whatever role you play, to follow that journey, and map the twists and turns, and to celebrate the remarkable successes that we know will be achieved by the people of this city.
Be one of the 5000+ attendees across our events. Meet, connect, share and expand your network.
1Add your knowledge and be a part of the conversation.
3Whether you're a developer, designer, creative, entrepreneur, parent or just interested we have sessions for everyone!
2
Digital Engineering Technology Innovation (DETI) Inspire
How can digital engineering help make a more sustainable future?
Join the DETI Inspire team and explore how we can use digital tools to help make a more sustainable future.
In this digital engineering careers event for young people, we will hear from inspirational engineers who are designing and creating innovative new solutions to real-world problems.
If you'd like to know more about what digital engineering is, what skills you need to be an engineer and what careers are available, then join us during Bristol Technology Festival from the 9th - 15th November and find out what engineering is all about.
Bristol Tech Festival
We'll launch the Bristol Tech Festival 2020 and hear plans for the week
Robert Half
With the economy evolving at an unprecedented rate, business and techonology leaders face greater levels of disruption than ever before. Predicting exactly what the future will require is an impossible task, so leaders must instead equip themselves with a strong portfolio of future-oriented and change-ready skills in order to keep responding to fluctuating market demands.
Katy Tanner, Robert Half’s Director of Leadership Development, will provide an opportunity to explore what the next normal may look like for you, your leadership and your company.
Mark Pullen, CEO of XLedger UK, will discuss his leadership journey, from roots in professional rugby to currently leading one of the UK’s fastest-growing cloud ERP providers based in Bristol. Mark will share how he has scaled the business during a pandemic whilst keeping his team engaged and motivated.
University of the West of England
Are you interested in using data for good? Have you ever wondered how citizens can drive innovation in the tech space?
Join UWE-Bristol and Transport and Mobility Leuven as they introduce WeCount, a collaborative research project that puts citizens in the driver’s seat of data generation and use about urban traffic – everything from walking, cycling, cars and lorries. Learn how the Telraam technology works and explore some of the data yourselves! Suitable for all self-confessed hackers, nerds and geeks.
www.we-count.net
SETSquared Bristol
Do you have a great high tech business idea, but don’t know where to start? Or are you unsure what to do next in order to grow your technology company? Then sign up for #Idea2Pitch event, hosted by SETsquared Bristol, to help hone your ideas, and shape them into a pitch for gaining interest or support in your venture
mrjoe
Create innovative products, services and features based on the real, often hidden user need.
Joe will talk through this c-suite friendly, practical, user centred design approach that helps uncover user needs and align an organisation around the customer and the jobs they need to do. Design products and features your users will love.
Angel Investors Club
ADLIB
The ”Building back better” event is for tech business owners and employees, for those that are converted and sophisticated in their sustainability understanding, well in their journey, but also for those who would like to build back better and aren’t sure where to start. The event is certain to offer inspiration for both.
Experts are set to take the virtual stage for 5 Impact Presentations revolving around the topics of sustainability and ‘building back better’, followed by a Panel Discussion.
Topics and Speakers:
Moneyhub
University of Bristol
In today's world it seems anything new and interesting is marketed as being Quantum, with the word continuing to be used in films such as Marvel's Ant-Man and Christopher Nolan's Tenet. But what is Quantum and how will Quantum Technologies be used in reality?
In this event, we will first learn what quantum means and how we can harness the spooky science behind the quantum realm to create practical opportunities which will change our lives.
Then, we will discover the different types of quantum technologies and learn more about their applications from the Bristol-based companies who are helping to create the UK Quantum Industry.
Finally, our panel of quantum experts will discuss the challenges behind creating Quantum Technologies and will answer any of your burning questions.
TEAMANGO
During this session we discuss the Top 6 People Challenges faced by the Tech Community and how they are overcoming them.
We will be joined by Katie Donovan-Adekanmbi (Inclusion & Cohesion Specialist at BCohco), Amy King (CEO at People Matter), Matt Jones (Ops Director at Unai) and Gareth Edwards (Partner at VWV Solicitors).
The top 6 we will be discussing are-
Some of our partners will be supporting this event - TBC - VWV, Bcohco and People Matter
Bristol+BathLegalTech
LegalTech is a fast growing market encompassing a wide range of technologies that accelerate, automate, streamline all types of legal process; adding value, reducing costs and opening up access. The West of England is one of the global city regions blazing a trail in LegalTech and an in-depth research report has been commissioned to analyse where we are today. Whether you're already inside the LegalTech community or know nothing about it but want to know how you could get involved in this dynamic sector, come along to hear more about progress and for a world exclusive pre-publication insight into some of the headlines from that research
Data3
When it comes to data architecture, there are so many choices...
Which ones do you use?
What are the pros and cons?
What are our lessons learnt?
The Data3 SWAT team will help you to decide through a battle-style debate.
Development Bank of Wales
This session will take you on a whistle-stop tour of the tech start-up investment journey. We’ll cover the key funding stages founders need to navigate when growing their business, outlining what investors are looking for at every step of the way.
Geovation
Want to find out how to win the innovation lottery? Well this talk is for you! Hear from Geovation's virtual CTO - Paul Nebel.
Innovation start-ups have the potential to provide rich rewards, but enthusiasm and ambition alone are not enough to survive. Most people, once they have an inkling of a problem, jump straight to the solution. This means that their entire business ends up serving the technology, rather than technology being used to achieve the aims of the business.
During this hour-long talk, Geovation's virtual CTO will show you how to start from the right place, establish product-market fit, identify your assumptions and turn them into hypotheses to build experiments that ensure you are building products your customers will love.
Find out how to approach innovation in a clear, systematic way that removes as much uncertainty as possible from your life and leaves you free to achieve your goals.
People Matter
Organisations can no longer afford to ignore the subject of their employee's wellbeing. The rate at which people are experiencing burnout and other mental health issues is increasing dramatically. Employers need to act fast to support their staff. Now more than ever before organisations have the opportunity to not just "do the right thing" but to lead the conversation and become actively engaged in supporting their employees wellbeing.
Bristol Innovators' Group
Join the Bristol Innovators' Group to learn about some of the best digital tools for helping you and your organisation to innovate better - we'll showcase some of our favourite platforms and demonstrate how they can add value and bring teams together during this time of remote working. We're also keen to open up the conversation and get your thoughts on what works well and what doesn't, as well as discuss some best practice.
University of Bristol
The Bristol ecosystem has developed into one of the UK's most prominent and established locations to build an innovative quantum or deep tech company. So what support is available locally and how can you build your own quantum or deep tech company?
This event will firstly take a look at the pathway to emerging technology entrepreneurship, looking at barriers to commercialisation, how to discover investment opportunities in the Bristol and South West area and hearing about the highs (and lows!) from Bristol entrepreneurs.
A panel of experts from Bristol's start-up ecosystem will then discuss what training and infrastructure is available within Bristol and will discuss the ways Bristol is paving a way for deep science companies outside of the golden triangle.
Finally, we'll bring you the launch of QTIC+ a revolutionary Innovation Centre which will provide much needed facilities for the development of new quantum and deep tech companies within the Bristol region.
Invented Futures
Invented Futures will bring together thinkers, researchers, technologists and artists to uncover the role of speculation - through prototypes, fiction, philosophy, literature - in re-shaping our understanding of the ‘future’ and the technology we live alongside.
F&G Funnel Mechanics
Ideas In Action Walking Workshops at Bristol Tech Festival 2020
The progressive businesses of Bristol and its Tech Cluster need creative and responsible marketing to grow ethically and profitably over the next decade. But how?
Our Ideas in Action Walking Workshops are short sessions of creative consultancy designed to inspire fresh thinking for your lead generation campaigns. No charge, just free ideas you can take away and implement to drive your growth.
Just when you thought it was safe to get back into the office, We're back to working from home. And while we're happy to ditch the commute, we miss face to face communication. The benefits to more flexible working may be clear, but there's no online fix yet for those spontaneous moments of creativity that spur innovation.
We've spotted a way to address this. We're inviting marketers to take part in small Covid-secure brainstorms on the move as part of the Bristol Technology Festival.
What to expect
Let's spark some creativity!
Why F&G Funnel Mechanics
We work with progressive businesses to build sales and marketing funnels that drive growth. Testament to our creative coaching powers, we partnered with OS accelerator Geovation to deliver marketing mentoring to its startups.
F&G Funnel Mechanics launched at the first Bristol Technology Festival. Now, a year later, we're back with our Ideas In Action Walking Workshops designed to help Bristol's marketers and entrepreneurs to brainstorm their next phase of marketing growth.
Investment Activator Programme
The final of the Silicon Gorge Investment Competition for startups raising between £150K-£2m.
Gapsquare
We currently live through the biggest social experiment on the future of work. All of the changes that were meant to be driven by AI and automation sometime in 2030, have largely happened over the past few months. Rushed and clumsy, these changes have not always brought about the best outcome for companies and workers. In addition, the economic downturn is reshaping industries and occupations, putting additional pressure on companies to empower resilient talent.
FinTech West
FinTech West is the place for disruptive start-ups, dynamic scale-ups and established enterprises. We share ideas, what’s working (and what isn’t), and how we can shape the future of our industry – together.
Bristol University Press
Is it possible to experience the joy and benefits of computing, but to do so in a way that gives us control over our time and data? In this interactive workshop we’ll explore individual and collective ways to practice slow computing and set out solutions to enable you to reflect on what it means to practice 'slow computing' and how it might relate to your own life.
Deloitte
Over the past few months Deloitte has been talking to a variety of people across the UK about the impact of Covid-19 on their lives and on their finances. We’ve spoken to the Financial Directors of corporates, small business owners, furloughed workers, those made redundant from the crisis, new graduates, the over 65’s and key workers. This qualitative research focusses on the human stories of Covid-19. We are inundated with statistics and numbers on Covid-19 daily, but sometimes these numbers can drown the meaning behind them. Understanding the human stories offers insight and understanding on the impact of Covid on UK society and on the economy. Experiences and behaviours now will influence how society and the economy recover post-Covid.
Geovation
Find out more about Ordnance Survey's new data portal that allows free access to the most comprehensive geographic data for Great Britain
Deloitte
As the demand for digital skills increases and those skills become life skills, is there another way to look at how we build digital capability, attract and retain people into the digital market place ? In this session, we’ll look at how focusing on the individual and identifying their human capabilities might help to ensure a future pipeline of digital skills.
TLT
Data has become central to the way in which we live and work. Technology companies of the future will be founded on the use and exploitation of data but also judged on their legal and ethical use of that data. We will look at the current legal and ethical framework for data ethics; consider how this is likely to evolve in the future and what technology companies should be doing now to get ahead of the curve.
University of the West of England
Workbrands
"Are your prospects getting lost on the customer journey? Perhaps it’s not what your content says that’s driving them away…but how it says it.
The pandemic has led to tech businesses relying on digital marketing over face to face meetings and events. So it’s clear that more than ever that your company’s content needs to capture your audience’s attention – and keep it.
To do this, visual appeal is vital. So join Workbrands founder and director Nick Farrar as he guides you on a Visual Voyage, demonstrating how the right creative execution at every stage of the sales cycle can increase engagement and improve the effectiveness of your content.
Having spent over 20 years in marketing, your host Nick Farrar has an in-depth understanding of what makes brands work, live and breathe and knows exactly how to maximise ROI for clients.
Before co-founding Workbrands, he was director of a recruitment comms agency and MD of an international publishing and events company.
A passionate advocate for the use of creativity in strategic business thinking, Nick is well-versed in helping others tell their own story through design in a way that engages their audience."
TechSPARK
TechSPARK's list of the Top 50 most influential entrepreneurs, technologists and creators causing welcomed disruption in the South West’s tech scene.
Our Mission
Building smart fintech tools inc APIs for businesses to support their customers' financial wellbeing using machine learning.
Supporting the FinTech community in the South West
FinTech West is the place for disruptive start-ups, dynamic scale-ups and established enterprises. We share ideas, what’s working (and what isn’t), and how we can shape the future of our industry – together.
We are a recruitment agency operating within the Technology, Data, Engineering & Science industries. Proudly BCorp certified.
All things tech in the West
TechSPARK is a not-for-profit network dedicated to connecting, educating and strengthening the digi-tech cluster in the West.
We work with tech and digital businesses from Startups to Scaleups, SME’s to Global Corporations based in the region to help them to grow, using our connections and knowledge.
Engaging with over 25,000 people monthly highlighting the best in tech in the West and bringing people together at regular events.
We are an award-winning team of creative technolgists dedicated to helping pioneering brands create stand-out ideas, craft experiences and confidently step into new media and tech
We are an award-winning team of creative technolgists dedicated to helping pioneering brands create stand-out ideas, craft experiences and confidently step into new media and tech
We're a UK law firm built around the needs of clients, providing expert advice across all UK jurisdictions.
TLT supports large corporates, public institutions and high growth businesses on their strategic and day-to-day legal needs. With significant experience advising organisations in the clean energy, digital, financial services, public sector, real estate, retail & consumer goods, and leisure, food & drink sectors, the firm has a strong track record of consistent growth driven by client need.
A newly-created dynamic, not-for-profit scholarly press based at the University of Bristol
Bristol University Press, and its imprint Policy Press, are committed to publishing the highest-quality scholarship in the social sciences and aligned disciplines. We want our work to make a positive contribution from the advancement of ideas through to practical implementation.
As a not-for-profit publisher, we are able to put integrity before profit and research before sensationalism to ensure that we provide an internationally respected platform for the global scholarly community to disseminate work that matters.
Robert Half is the world’s first and largest specialized staffing firm.
Global Recruitment Firm, with local offices in Bristol specialising in Technology, Finance, HR, Marketing, Business Support and Exec Search.
Invented Futures is a research collective based at Spike Island art studios and SETsquared Bristol.
Invented Futures is a research collective based at Spike Island art studios and SETsquared Bristol. Invented Futures brings together a network of artists and creative technologists around the principles of design fiction and speculative thinking. These are critical design disciplines that challenge assumptions and conceptions about the role which technology, objects, software and systems play in our everyday life. Our workshops, design sprints and roundtable discussions include technologists, writers, artists, researchers, thinkers and designers. Starting with looking at how technological innovation has got to where it is, we use speculative thinking and design fiction to create alternative futures to the given tech culture - through science fictions, experimental AI systems and human-computer interactions, art, film and objects. Invented Futures has worked with University of Bristol Innovation and Enterprise, Zebera Design and Innovation, FutureBased (Amsterdam), Tech For Good South West, Spike Island Associates, Bristol Interaction Group, School of Activism and more. Invented Futures created an event for Bristol Tech Fest 2019. Invented Futures was selected for the Natwest/SETSquared pre-accelerator programme, Back Her Business, in 2020.
We bring culture, strategy and technology together to make sure your Cloud Native Transformation is done right.
UWE Bristol is one of Britain's most popular universities, with more than 30,000 students and 3,000 staff and is the largest provider of higher education in the south west of England.
At UWE Bristol, we're focused on solving future global challenges through outstanding learning, world-leading research and a culture of enterprise.
Connecting and collaborating with law firms, not for profit organisations, entrepreneurs, individuals and techies.
Connecting and collaborating with law firms, not for profit organisations, entrepreneurs, individuals and techies.
MD, TechSPARK
Ben has been working to help grow tech and digital business for the last decade. He is MD of TechSPARK the Southwest’s network for tech start up and scale ups working with over 25,000 people.
Head of Business Transformation, Hargreaves Lansdown
Director, Deloitte
I am an experienced software development manager with a strong technical background and experience working in an agile development environment. My team delivers multiple Point of Sale (POS) applications on a number of different platforms, including Windows, Linux, Android and iOS, processing hundreds of thousands of transactions per day. My responsibilities range through all aspects of the product life cycle from gathering commercial requirements, managing the development, testing and support.
Founder, Why Communications
I help leaders in technology companies to tell the world WHY they and their products are worth giving a damn about.
With over 15 years' experience in corporate communications and technical product marketing, I can articulate a company's value to customers, investors, employees, and media targets.
Founder, Bristol Tech Showcase
A forward thinking impactful technology leader with a record of delivering business and technology transformation. Experienced with multiple enterprise technologies and their applicability for various business needs.
Demonstrable ability to engage, connect and build relationships that can influence and help improve business outcomes. Cross industry, Executive, Board, Regulators. Experienced in B2B and B2C sectors, public bodies and privately held companies.
A Teaching Associate at Warwick Business School and the owner of the Bristol Technology Showcase, an emerging technology event that takes place in the City of Bristol.
This festival would not be possible without the support of partners. Thank you!
