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The Times / Sunday Times Inaugural Tech Summit

The Times & The Sunday Times asked us to convene a high-level event programme for their inaugural Tech Summit.

When it comes to tech, and to digital technology, we are very far from the summit of what can be achieved. Indeed, we are only beginning to even glimpse the potential of where digital technologies might take us, and how much they will transform our world.” —Matt Hancock, Minister for Digital We were approached by News UK to curate the Times & Sunday Times Tech Summit, a half-day event supported by Google Cloud for 100+ VIP senior technology leaders from FTSE 250 companies, addressing the opportunities and challenges for modern CTOs and CIOs to keep ahead of the trends and gain insight for competitive advantage. Leveraging our existing technology sector expertise, we worked closely with the internal client team to understand their requirements. We researched and shaped the programme content, managed internal and external stakeholders, devised a research-based detailed programme, and convened a diverse group of technologists, strategists, advisors, journalists and academics. We recruited 24 expert speakers, managing those speaker relationships right through from the very start to during the event itself. We created a programme focusing on the core themes shaping the agenda for senior tech leaders: how to attract and nurture talent, the roadmap for our data-driven future, and managing cybersecurity and trust. The programme also tackled the big question: what next for emerging – and emergent - technologies? Panels were moderated by Times journalists including Daniel Finkelstein, Sathnam Sanghera and Danny Fortson. The event was a great success, with keynotes from: The GCHQ speech made most national newspapers including the front cover of The Sun and the New York Times, as well as the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-41997262 Ciaran Martin, CEO, GCHQ Minister for Digital, Matt Hancock Edwina Dunn, founder of The Female Lead The GCHQ speech made most national newspapers including the front cover of The Sun and the New York Times, as well as the BBC. Matt Hancock built a "tech moment" around his keynote, with major announcements on a £21 million investment to create a new national network of regional tech hubs across the country. Tech City UK and Tech North are to become a single national organisation, Tech Nation, to speed up the growth and reach of the UK’s innovative digital clusters. And there was an announcement that the Prime Minister, Theresa May, would be doubling the number of UK visas issued to “the brightest and best” talent (which includes, but is not exclusive to, tech) to 2,000. The event included participant surveys throughout the day around the key themes, and was followed up with a Tech Summit supplement in the Times the following Friday, with additional content as well as reporting from the event. There was also a vibrant Twitter conversation. Speakers Gideon Kay, CIO EMEA, Dentsu Aegis Network Marc Schoenen, Global Compensation Director, Google Debbie Forster, MBE, CEO, Tech Talent Charter Eileen Burbidge, Partner, Passion Capital Christina Finlay, Director, Insight & Supporter Data, National Trust Kevin Hanley, Director of Innovation, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Greg DeMichillie, Director of Product Management, Office of the CTO, Google Cloud Oliver Gower, NCA Deputy Director for Cyber and Head of the National Cyber Crime Unit Zoë Rose, ethical hacker Mustafa Al-Bassam, Security Advisor, Secure Trading Thomas Harvey, Global Head of Cyber Emergency Response, BP Jamie Bartlett, Director, Centre for the Analysis of Social Media, Demos, author, The Dark Net and Radicals Michele Curtoni, Emerging Technology Strategy, London Stock Exchange Group Joe McFadden, CTO, Royal Opera House Matt Webb, Managing Director, R/GA IOT Venture Studio UK A privilege to work with a great client team and convene events that have a genuine impact. Tech Summit Video: Tech Summit Highlights (The Times) Photo credits: News UK

“When it comes to tech, and to digital technology, we are very far from the summit of what can be achieved. Indeed, we are only beginning to even glimpse the potential of where digital technologies might take us, and how much they will transform our world.”
– Matt Hancock, Minister for Digital

We were approached by News UK to curate the Times & Sunday Times Tech Summit, a half-day event supported by Google Cloud for 100+ VIP senior technology leaders from FTSE 250 companies, addressing the opportunities and challenges for modern CTOs and CIOs to keep ahead of the trends and gain insight for competitive advantage.

Leveraging our existing technology sector expertise, we worked closely with the internal client team to understand their requirements, and researched and shaped the programme content, managed internal and external stakeholders, shaping a research-based detailed programme, and convening a diverse group of technologists, strategists, advisors, journalists and academics. We recruited 24 expert speakers, managing those speaker relationships right through to and at the event.

We created a programme focusing on the core themes shaping the agenda for senior tech leaders: how to attract and nurture talent, the roadmap for our data-driven future, managing cyber security and trust, and what next for emerging – and emergent – technologies? Panels were moderated by Times journalists including Daniel Finkelstein, Sathnam Sanghera and Danny Fortson. The event was a great success, with keynotes from:

The GCHQ speech made most national newspapers including the front cover of The Sun and the New York Times, as well as BBC News.

Matt Hancock built a “tech moment” around his keynote, with major announcements on a £21 million investment to create a new national network of regional tech hubs across the country, Tech City UK and Tech North to become a single national organisation, Tech Nation to speed up the growth and reach of the UK’s innovative digital clusters, as well the Prime Minister, Theresa May, announcing that the UK would double the number of visas issued to “the brightest and best” talent (which includes, but is not exclusive to, tech) to 2,000.

The event included participant surveys throughout the day around the key themes, and was followed up with a Tech Summit supplement in the Times the following Friday, with additional content as well as reporting from the event, and there was a vibrant Twitter conversation.

Speakers

  • Gideon Kay, CIO EMEA, Dentsu Aegis Network
  • Marc Schoenen, Global Compensation Director, Google
  • Debbie Forster, MBE, CEO, Tech Talent Charter
  • Eileen Burbidge, Partner, Passion Capital
  • Christina Finlay, Director, Insight & Supporter Data, National Trust
  • Kevin Hanley, Director of Innovation, Royal Bank of Scotland Group
  • Greg DeMichillie, Director of Product Management, Office of the CTO, Google Cloud
  • Oliver Gower, NCA Deputy Director for Cyber and Head of the National Cyber Crime Unit
  • Zoë Rose, ethical hacker
  • Mustafa Al-Bassam, Security Advisor, Secure Trading
  • Thomas Harvey, Global Head of Cyber Emergency Response, BP
  • Jamie Bartlett, Director, Centre for the Analysis of Social Media, Demos, author, The Dark Net and Radicals
  • Michele Curtoni, Emerging Technology Strategy, London Stock Exchange Group
  • Joe McFadden, CTO, Royal Opera House
  • Matt Webb, Managing Director, R/GA IOT Venture Studio UK

A privilege to work with a great client team and convene events that have a genuine impact.

I’ve spoken and been on panels at many events of all sizes and highly recommend Sasha as an organiser. She does her homework, finds out about the speakers and gives us a real sense of the flow of it all, not just of your own session but of the events as a whole. Then on the day, it all flowed like clockwork; the logistics were clearly laid out and went to plan, leaving me free not just to focus on my session, but to actually enjoy the event as a whole. From a speaker’s perspective, I’d always be happy to be part of an event that Sasha is organising.
— Debbie Forster MBE, CEO, Tech Talent Charter.
I do a great deal of speaking at commercial and public events; it makes a huge difference if it is professionally organised. It needs a light touch, so you don’t get driven crazy by unnecessary requests, but it also vital you aren’t left dangling, unclear about what you are supposed to be doing. Sasha gets that balance just right. She really knows what she is doing, so you feel safe in her hands.
— Daniel Finkelstein OBE, Associate Editor, Columnist, The Times