Supporting Startups
I arrived in time to catch the end of the session, where there were some questions about _connect and KTNs and a discussion of government support for innovation and publicity. I picked up the Technology Strategy Board Delivery Plan for the year, which describes their funding strategies and competition areas.
Motorsport Cluster
Next up was a tour of the motorsport cluster in the Oxford area. Oxford Brookes University has set up a Motorsport course. There was a focus on taking technology from the track to the street, and mention of the complexity of supply chains.
There is a new Formula E race series for electric race cars.
Yasa Motors gave a presentation about their products and the knowledge transfer partnership with Oxford Brookes.
The session was rounded off by a talk from Bluebird Racing, who are once again reinventing themselves in an attempt to gain more speed records.
Digital Industries
Next up was a talk about Digital Industries, starting with a presentation by Connected Digital Economy Catapult who are this year focussing on digital health, connected cities and media.
The Digital Copyright Exchange is being set up to ease the transfer and licensing of copyright material within the UK.
Quick Fire Pitches
There was an afternoon of quickfire pitches, where entrepreneurs spent 3 minutes pitching their ideas to a panel of potential funders and other backers. I only stayed for a few, but of the ones I saw, two stood out.
Transport Logistics Solutions - "TLS is a web-enabled service provider creating an efficient marketplace between energy suppliers and consumers who have no acces to natural gas for heating", that is they provide an improved buying power for consumers of heating oil.
Seed team - "A structured secure portal to match ideas with skills and talent from social enterprise service base, hobbiests, unemplyed and more" ...although their website could use a little more work. This is an interesting project for matching skills with needs outside the context of formal employment, matching customers to suppliers for small amounts of work.
Cryogenics
There was a whirlwind tour of the uses of cryogenics in modern life, which, while fascinating, didn't seem particularly relevant for a finance conference.
Isis Software Incubator
The day was rounded off with a talk from the Isis Software Incubator, who described their role as part of Isis Innovation, bringing research to the market from Oxford University, but also talked about how they are quite different from the normal Isis workflow. Often the software they bring to market comes as a side effect of the research rather than being a part of the research itself, so it has to be handled differently.
Other interesting things
The Dearman Engine is a liquid air engine which can be used in conjunction with internal combustion engines as a way to reclaim some energy from the low grade heat we currently send to the radiator.
The Manufacturing Advisory Service had a 3D printer working on their stand, with some models on show of what it creates.
I picked up a voucher for a free consultation with Alchemy Business Coaching.