As the bright cliffs of freedom edge ever closer and we prepare to take back control from our EU overlords, remoaners still insist on pointing out pesky facts.

London is Europe’s leading tech hub fuelled by talent from across the continent. A bad deal threatens to undermine the most dynamic part of our economy @AndyCockburn
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For many years the tech sector has been the bonniest jewels in UK PLC’s crown, paraded as a shining example of innovation, growth and general coolness. I myself enjoyed working in and around Silicon Roundabout for many years and can honestly say that it’s been fun and utterly humbling to be around so many brilliant people contributing so much to the country’s economy. Some of them were even British.

“As a Northern Ireland native, I’ve seen first hand the difficulty that division can cause, just as I can see the major and needless impact that Brexit is having on bringing back the divisions on that island. Isolation and protectionism has never proven to be a positive long term strategy, and that is becoming clear in this case too. And with more in the tech industry, and in the UK as a whole, considering themselves citizens of the world, we risk closing our doors and driving away a diverse set of people that help make us all better.”

Rob Elkin, Busuu

We now had 2 years of due diligence on Brexit and the British people deserve a vote on this deal. Anything else would be highly irresponsible and undemocratic @bernardooo ‏
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Cartoon by Bruce MacKinnon @CH_Cartoon

Show me a thriving start-up that is not a melting pot of cultures from all over the world and you’d seriously be looking at an anomaly. It’s never been surprising for me to hear dozens of languages being spoken around the office, and to be constantly asking my colleagues how to best pronounce their names.

We employ a bunch of highly skilled people and 70% of our staff don’t have a UK passport. Finding and attracting great team members is a major challenge and is the single biggest constraint on our growth. Anything we can do to make it easier for smart people to come to the UK is a bonus. Doing the opposite is frankly economic suicide. Adam Fudakowski, CEO, Switchee

To me, such places are living proof that diversity breeds innovation, so to talk about adopting policies that would make Britain (to borrow some government terminology here) a “hostile environment” for immigration really seems to a move designed to drain the lifeblood from the creative industries – tech included.

We punch above our weight, which means we have a lot to lose. The country of Magna Carta and the Mother of Parliaments deserves a meaningful debate on concrete options, and a vote based on considered strategic goals @richmarr ‏
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“The UK and especially London has become a vibrant and globally successful centre for technology innovation. Many of the most exciting start up businesses here have been founded by immigrant entrepreneurs and grown with UK and European employees joining the companies as they grow rapidly.” Simon Murdoch, Managing Partner, Episode 1 Ventures

As anyone who’s ever worked in a start-up will also attest to, a huge part of a company’s energy and resources goes towards attracting, recruiting and retaining talent. Competition is dog-eat-dog fierce and even with freedom of movement allowing European citizens from 29 countries to come and work in London without any restrictions, it was still a challenge to get the right people on board – there just aren’t enough qualified individuals to go around, British or otherwise.

“Our world leading digital industry is being led into a back water of mediocrity by a crop of leaders who don’t even know what Brexit they want and why they want it. By keeping the best talent in the world out with central government quotas on immigration they’ve pulled down the shutters. Digital leaders will simply start up elsewhere. Toby Beresford, Rise

The Bank of England recently released figures that showed the UK economy is currently 1% smaller than expected two years ago, and this climate of economic uncertainty caused by Brexit is also affecting financing in the sector: Funding from the European Investment Fund has collapsed since the Brexit vote, and a replacement scheme has yet to be assured long-term by the government. The European Investment Bank, which backs a majority of the United Kingdom’s VC funds, has slashed deals with UK VCs and private equity groups by more than two-thirds, with no equivalent funding from the UK government in sight.

Having worked in Silicon Roundabout for many years I can say how fun and humbling it was to be around so many brilliant people who contributed so much to the UK economy. Some of them were even British
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So it comes as no surprise to hear that over 80 UK technology and innovation leaders have signed up as supporters of new tech business group Tech For UK, calling on the Government to back a meaningful vote by the people, on the actual terms of Brexit (something that sadly seems increasingly unlikely).

The Brexiteers admit they can't deliver the Brexit they promised so we deserve a vote on the one they've got us instead @GeorgeBevis ‏
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Tech For UK represents the founders of many of the most innovative and successful businesses in the UK technology sector including Martha Lane Fox of Lastminute.com and Doteveryone, Ben Whitaker, Founder of Masabi, the UK rail ticketing startup, Bernhard Niesner, founder of the language learning giant Busuu, lending giant Zopa, and George Bevis, founder of small business banking provider Tide, among many others. It is also backing Best For Britain in its fundraising campaign for a meaningful vote on the terms of Brexit and the option to Remain and lead in the EU.

Britons voted for Brexit in the initial referendum with inadequate and often wholly spurious information on both sides of the argument @nicksaalfeld ‏
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“It’s time the people had the chance for a meaningful vote, or through parliament, on the terms of Brexit,” says TechCrunch Editor-at-large Mike Butcher who is a co-founder of TechHub, and co-organiser of Tech For UK. “The loss of access to European funds, the flight of talent which powers UK tech companies due to the uncertainty and scandal around immigration, the loss of access to the Digital Single Market, which was never consulted over — all of these factors are adversely affecting the UK Tech industry.”

'Lies run sprints, but the truth runs marathons’ - it's becoming increasingly clear that the fiction that was promised by the Leave campaign were just that @glennbookingbug ‏
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The technology sector has consistently grown faster than the UK economy in recent years, employing over 2 million people and attracting billions in foreign investment. Collectively, Tech For UK supporters have raised hundreds of millions of pounds, put hundreds of millions back into the UK economy and employed thousands of people.

“I spent 12 years working in China – living over there I came to appreciate the value, and leverage, that comes with size. We are a small nation of 65m and I do not believe we are strong or powerful enough to go it alone in a rapidly globalising world. We are European and can’t pretend otherwise. We already have clients making London-based teams redundant as they move whole divisions to Ireland. I catch myself thinking “well it’s ok I’m sure the government know what they’re doing…” and instantly remember they clearly do not. Ed Dean, CEO, Woodseer Global.

Brexit is the most important decisions for generations and it would be irresponsible not to let people have a decision on the exact term of the world they will live in @vhirsch ‏
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Full list of supporters:

1. Adam Fudakowski, CEO, Switchee
2. Adam Price, Founder, VouchedFor & Hatch
3. Alex Hoye, Co-founder, The Faction Collective
4. Andrea Tricoli, Co-Founder, Expressly
5. Andrew Walmsley, Non Exec Chairman, Inskin Media
6. Andy Cockburn, CEO & Cofounder, Mention Me
7. Ben Farren CEO, SPOKE
8. Ben Whately, Co-founder and COO, Memrise
9. Ben Whitaker, Founder, Masabi
10. Benjamin Redford, Co-founder, Mayku
11. Benji Lanyado, Founder & CEO, Picfair
12. Bernhard Niesner, CEO, Busuu
13. Bindi Karia, Innovation Expert & Advisor
14. Cassandra Stavrou, Founder, Propercorn
15. Cécile Baird, Founder, Decentrl.Agency
16. Charlie Dobres, CEO, Busking It Productions
17. Chris Pointon, Co-founder, Racefully
18. Conor Graham, Cofounder, #HackTheHub
19. Courtney Glymph, Product and Solutions Communications, CA Technologies
20. Daniel Appelquist, Head, Samsung Research UK
21. Daniel Murray, Co Founder, Grabble
22. David Batey, Founder, Nickelled Ltd
23. Dimitar Stanimiroff, CEO & Co-founder, Heresy
24. Dominic Campbell, CEO, Futuregov
25. Ed Dean, CEO, Woodseer Global
26. Fabrice Bernhard, Co-Founder, Theodo
27. Frank Kelcz, Partner, Collider VC
28. Gareth Quinn, Founder, Digital DNA
29. George Bevis, CEO, Tide
30. Gianluca Gindro, Senior Data Scientist, Geophy
31. Giles Andrews, Cofounder & Chairman, Zopa
32. Glenn Shoosmith, Founder and CEO, Bookingbug
33. Guy Morris, Managing Director, Quiz the Nation
34. Hephzi Pemberton, Founder, Kiteka
35. Ian Jindal, Founder, Pencil / InternetRetailing
36. Ilicco Elia, Head Of Mobile, Deloitte Digital
37. Irfon WatkinsFounder, Dovu
38. Ivan Mazour, CEO and Founder, Ometria
39. Jack Huang, Director, TrulyExperiences.com
40. James Evans, Managing Director, Bluespot.io Ltd
41. James Whatley, Planning Partner, Ogilvy UK
42. Jana Hlistova, Founder, Diversity Hacks
43. Jessica Kennedy White, UCL Educate
44. Joanna Goodman, Tech Journalist
45. Jon Atkinson, Technical Director, FARM Digital Ltd.
46. Jonathan Petrides, Founder, allplants
47. Josh Feldberg Head of Digital, 89up
48. Josh Russell, Partner, Resolve
49. Katie Moffat, Head Of Digital, The Audience Agency
50. Laure Claire Reillier, Co-Founder and COO, Launchworks & Co
51. Laurence Kemball-Cook, Founder & CEO, Pavegen
52. Madhuban Kumar, CEO, Metafused
53. Marc Roberts, CTO, HiyaCar
54. Marcus Greenwood, CEO, Ubio
55. Martha Lane-Fox, Founder, Doteveryone
56. Martin Goodson, CEO, Evolution AI
57. Matthew Gardiner, Founder, Catch London
58. Melanie Moeller, Product Lead, Sky Spain
59. Merje ShawMD, Path59
60. Michele Cuccovillo, Partner, Rock Mission
61. Mike Butcher, MBE, Editor at Large, Techcrunch
62. Nic Brisbourne, Managing Partner, Forward Partners
63. Nicholas Katz, CEO, Acasa
64. Nick Patterson, Founder, Movemeon
65. Nick Saalfeld, Director, Wells Park Communications
66. Nuala Murphy, CEO, Moment Health
67. Peter Ward, Founder, WAYN/Humanity Inc
68. Pilgrim Beart, CEO, DevicePilot
69. Priya Prakash, Founder, D4SC
70. Riaz Kanani, MD & Founder, Radiate B2B
71. Richard Marr, Cofounder, Applied Recruitment
72. Rob Elkin, CTO, Busuu
73. Rob O’Donovan, Ceo, Charlie HR
74. Simon Murdoch, Founder, Episode 1 Partners
75. Stephen Johnston, Founder, Fordcastle
76. Tamara Sword, Founder, TRM&C
77. Tim Boughton, CTO, Mention Me Ltd
78. Timothy Brownstone, CEO, KYMIRA
79. Toby Beresford, CEO, Rise.global
80. Tom Alisi, Director, deep.ventures
81. Tom de Grunwald, Creative Director, Microclimate
82. Tushar Agarwal Co-Founder & CEO, Hubble
83. Volker Hirsch, Founder, Blue Beck / Tech North Advocates
84. William Reeve, CEO, Goodlord
85. William Roberts, Founder, Loyalty Bay

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Deal or No Deal? London Tech Leaders Weigh In on Brexit appeared first on Tech Trends.

How do we tackle the challenge of making educational technology that works for everyone?

According to UNESCO, 264 million children do not have access to schooling, while at least 600 million more are “in school but not learning” constituting what the World Bank calls a learning crisis.

According to UNESCO, 264 million children do not have access to schooling
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This is the problem that drove the Varkey Foundation to create the Next Billion EdTech prize, which recognises leading EdTech start-ups making an impact on education in low income and emerging economies.

The three finalists - Dot learn, Chatterbox, and TeachMeNow were each awarded $25,000 and the opportunity to pilot their tech in partner schools
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Awarded to “the most innovative technology destined to have a radical impact on education in low income and emerging world countries,” the competition saw over 40 start-ups from all over the world pitching to a panel of judges including venture capitalists, philanthropic investors, experts in EdTech and learning sciences, and senior education policy makers.

“The new wave of EdTech is clearly about to hit its stride,” said leading judge and TechCrunch Editor-at-Large Mike Butcher. “It was clear to the judges that emerging market EdTech is going to be one of the hottest tech sectors in the world for the next few years. The majority of the start-ups we saw during the competition clearly have enormous potential. It’s fantastic that GESF is throwing the spotlight on this exciting sector.”

The prize identifies, spotlights and celebrates the world’s leading EdTech start-ups that have shown through ingenuity and innovation that they can improve learning in parts of the world where there is limited access to good quality teaching.

Over 40 start-ups from all over the world pitched to a panel of judges including venture capitalists, philanthropic investors, experts in EdTech and senior education policy makers
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“Over a billion young people – a number growing every day – are being denied what should be the birth right of every single child in the 21st century, no matter where they live: a good education that allows them to make the most of their God-given talents,” says Sunny Varkey, Founder of the Varkey Foundation.

“We have launched the Next Billion Prize to highlight technology’s potential to tackle the problems that have proven too difficult for successive generations of politicians to solve. Our fervent hope is that the prize inspires practical and persistent entrepreneurs the world over to come forward with fresh tech ideas. These ideas must be hardy enough to improve education in regions where young people are denied access to a good quality teacher and a great learning environment”.

The three finalists – Dot learn, Chatterbox, and TeachMeNow were each awarded $25,000 as well as the opportunity to pilot their technology in partner schools in Western Cape, South Africa. The overall winner – UK-based start-up Chatterbox – was then chosen by popular vote by delegates at the Global Education and Skills Forum (GESF) which took place last weekend in Dubai.

We have launched the Next Billion Prize to highlight technology’s potential to tackle the problems that have proven too difficult for successive generations of politicians to solve
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Chatterbox is an online language school which harnesses the wasted talent of unemployed professionals who are refugees, offering them work as on-line and in-person language tutors. The problem it solves is not only that of refugee unemployment and integration, however; In the United Kingdom alone, language skills shortage are estimated to cost the economy £48bn every year, so the services the platform provides are very much in demand. So much so, in fact, that the company already counts several universities, major non-profits and corporations in the country among its clients.

“I was three years old when I arrived in the UK as a refugee with my mum Patuni. She was a civil engineer who spoke English and three other languages fluently,” recalls Chatterbox CEO Mursal Hedayat. After we had to leave Afghanistan because of civil war, I watched her become unemployed in the UK for more than a decade. Refugees with degrees and valuable skills still face shockingly high levels of underemployment. An idea like Chatterbox has never been more urgently needed,” she concludes.

Fellow finalists Dot Learn, which is located in Nigeria, makes online video e-learning accessible on slow, expensive Internet connections for users in low-income countries. Its technology reduces the file-size of learning videos, requiring 1/100th of the bandwidth to watch. At current data prices in Kenya and Nigeria, this means a student or learner can access 5 hours of online learning for about the cost of sending a single text message ($0.014). It offers content providers the opportunity to reach potentially billions of users for whom online learning would otherwise be impractical or ruinously expensive.

Another positive aspect to emerge from the competition was the diversity of backgrounds among the competing start-ups. Of the six finalists to pitch on Sunday, five were led by female founders.

TeachMeNow Managing Director Thea Myhrvold agrees that this diversity is of crucial importance: “As a female entrepreneur, I felt it was important to create positive stories for and from the Middle East. That’s why I came back to the UAE to start TeachMeNow. The first class using our technology had a Venezuelan teaching Spanish to a Saudi student. Now, we empower tens of thousands of teachers, entrepreneurs, schools, institutions to reach students all over the world.”

Of the six finalists to pitch on Sunday, five were led by female founders
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The prize was the focal point of Tomorrow, a new EdTech summit which took place for the first time at GESF.

According to Sunny Varkey, this was be the first EdTech summit in the world which joined the most important players from the spheres of education and technology together, giving start-ups access to every type of stakeholder – from Silicon Valley venture capitalists to former and current education ministers, foundations, academics and the world’s best teachers. “They can draw on their expertise and support to build products that will work as well in the classroom as they do in an elevator pitch,” he concluded.

This article was originally published on IDG Connect

Scaling EdTech to reach the next billion learners https://t.co/haICbWfc8R via @CIOonline

— Alice Bonasio (@alicebonasio) March 23, 2018

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasioon Twitter.

The post Reaching The Next Billion Learners Through EdTech appeared first on Tech Trends.

Have a technology innovation that could change the world of tomorrow? Here’s your chance!

As we gear up for this year’s Global Education and Skills Forum (GESF), the Varkey Foundation – a not-for-profit organisation that aims to improve education for underprivileged children throughout the world – has launched a call for the best EdTech companies out there to step up and make the world a better place through education!

Tech is playing an increasingly important role in tackling problems such as the global shortage of trained teachers, through innovative use of scalable and practical technology solutions
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Tech Trends will be at #GESF2018 and very much looking forward to seeing who will be crowned this year’s winner of the Global Teacher Prize. This year, there will be a strong focus on digital literacy and the role of teachers in preparing the next generation with the skills of the future.

The Varkey Foundation has launched a call for EdTech startups that want to change the world through education innovation
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Tech of course plays an increasingly important role in tackling problems such as the global shortage of trained teachers, through innovative use of scalable technology solutions.

The competition will bring together some of the world’s most innovative Education Technology startups in front of a panel of expert judges including Mike Butcher MBE
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The “Tomorrow” initiative aims to start building a community of EdTech innovators to create opportunities for students in the developing world. The competition – which will take place in Dubai next month, will bring together some of the world’s most innovative Education Technology startups in front of a panel of expert judges including Mike Butcher MBE, Editor-at-Large at TechCrunch.

The Tomorrow summit by the Varkey Foundation aims to start building a community of EdTech innovators to create opportunities for students in the developing world
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The three chosen finalists will have the opportunity to pilot their technology in the developing world. Every startup invited to participate will get the chance to meet with some of the top venture capitalists in EdTech, as well as having the Teacher Prize cohort trial and critique their technology.

The three chosen finalists will have the opportunity to pilot their technology in the developing world
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The finalists will be announced at the Varkey Foundation’s annual Tomorrow forum in 2018 in Dubai on March 17th and 18th.

The competition is free to enter, but all entries must be received before February 15th 2018
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The competition is free to enter, but do hurry, as all entries must be received before February 15th at 23:59 PM GMT.

You can apply via this this form

#EDTECH STARTUPS!
Could you educate the next billion people to come online? The @Varkeyfdn non-profit has a competition with $ prize, pilots in two countries & the chance to meet @TeacherPrize winners https://t.co/l2cF71GIsk

— Mike Butcher (@mikebutcher) February 1, 2018

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Calling all #EdTech Startups appeared first on Tech Trends.