INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS PREDICT 10 BIG TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AT EDINBURGH FORUM
Over 300 Scottish business people attended the 10BigThings Global Forum in Edinburgh which brought together a panel of technology industry experts and internet visionaries to give the audience an insight into the upcoming technology trends which will shape the future of Scottish business. Organised by Innovation Centres Scotland (ICS) and ScotlandIS, highlights of the forum included:
· Martin Sadler of HP Labs predicted a 20,000 fold increase in processing power within the next 20 years using nanotechnology to build a new generation of super-computing PCs and mobile devices. He also predicted that fashion will have a huge impact on the future design and functionality of computing devices.
· Charles Armstrong, chief executive of Trampoline Systems shared his experience of implementing social networking in the business environment. He forecast that the value of social networks would start to appear as intangible assets on corporate balance sheets in the next few years.
· In a first for Scotland, Microsoft unveiled its Surface technology, a radical new user interface which uses hand gestures to access and work with applications to offer a rich and highly intuitive user experience.
· Duncan MacTear of 4Projects showed how Software as a Service (SaaS) could be deployed profitability and argued for the benefits of beta versions of applications.
In addition there were video links to Greg Papadopoulous, chief technology officer of Sun Microsystems and Stuart Cosgrove, director of nations and regions for Channel 4. Greg gave an overview of how virtualisation and cloud computing would impact on the future development of software while Stuart stressed the future of personal computing lay in greater portability of devices.
Chairing the forum was David Mitchell, senior vice president, IT research at Ovum who led a lively Q&A session after the presentations. The event was sponsored by Scottish Enterprise, Oracle, CW Jobs, and Highland Spring.
The forum also gave an opportunity for some of the most innovative SMEs in Scotland to showcase their offerings to the leading players in the Scottish ICT market. Exhibitors included Codeplay, TAG Games, Ewgeco, G2BS, eoLogic & SKF.
The forum was followed by the prestigious ScotSoft Gala Dinner, one of the most important events in the Scottish ICT calendar. A number of awards were presented during the evening including Young Software Engineer of the Year which went to University of Dundee student Yasmeen Ahmad for her exceptional project which enables complex data modelling at the cutting edge of life sciences development. Key sponsors of the dinner included Oracle, Capgemini, Pinsent Masons and First People Solutions
“We hope that the audience left inspired and fired up with fresh ideas about how technology will help their businesses in future,” said Polly Purvis, executive director, ScotlandIS. “The quality of the speakers and the content of their presentations made this a rare opportunity to hear from leading experts at one event.
” Tom Ogilvie, chief executive officer, Innovation Centres Scotland said: “In the current economic climate it is more important than ever that Scottish business keep ahead of the curve in terms of upcoming technological developments. Events such as 10BigThings act as a catalyst for sharing knowledge and best practice by allowing delegates to interact with some of the world’s leading technologists.”
Over 300 Scottish business people attended the 10BigThings Global Forum in Edinburgh which brought together a panel of technology industry experts and internet visionaries to give the audience an insight into the upcoming technology trends which will shape the future of Scottish business. Organised by Innovation Centres Scotland (ICS) and ScotlandIS, highlights of the forum included:
· Martin Sadler of HP Labs predicted a 20,000 fold increase in processing power within the next 20 years using nanotechnology to build a new generation of super-computing PCs and mobile devices. He also predicted that fashion will have a huge impact on the future design and functionality of computing devices.
· Charles Armstrong, chief executive of Trampoline Systems shared his experience of implementing social networking in the business environment. He forecast that the value of social networks would start to appear as intangible assets on corporate balance sheets in the next few years.
· In a first for Scotland, Microsoft unveiled its Surface technology, a radical new user interface which uses hand gestures to access and work with applications to offer a rich and highly intuitive user experience.
· Duncan MacTear of 4Projects showed how Software as a Service (SaaS) could be deployed profitability and argued for the benefits of beta versions of applications.
In addition there were video links to Greg Papadopoulous, chief technology officer of Sun Microsystems and Stuart Cosgrove, director of nations and regions for Channel 4. Greg gave an overview of how virtualisation and cloud computing would impact on the future development of software while Stuart stressed the future of personal computing lay in greater portability of devices.
Chairing the forum was David Mitchell, senior vice president, IT research at Ovum who led a lively Q&A session after the presentations. The event was sponsored by Scottish Enterprise, Oracle, CW Jobs, and Highland Spring.
The forum also gave an opportunity for some of the most innovative SMEs in Scotland to showcase their offerings to the leading players in the Scottish ICT market. Exhibitors included Codeplay, TAG Games, Ewgeco, G2BS, eoLogic & SKF.
The forum was followed by the prestigious ScotSoft Gala Dinner, one of the most important events in the Scottish ICT calendar. A number of awards were presented during the evening including Young Software Engineer of the Year which went to University of Dundee student Yasmeen Ahmad for her exceptional project which enables complex data modelling at the cutting edge of life sciences development. Key sponsors of the dinner included Oracle, Capgemini, Pinsent Masons and First People Solutions
“We hope that the audience left inspired and fired up with fresh ideas about how technology will help their businesses in future,” said Polly Purvis, executive director, ScotlandIS. “The quality of the speakers and the content of their presentations made this a rare opportunity to hear from leading experts at one event.
” Tom Ogilvie, chief executive officer, Innovation Centres Scotland said: “In the current economic climate it is more important than ever that Scottish business keep ahead of the curve in terms of upcoming technological developments. Events such as 10BigThings act as a catalyst for sharing knowledge and best practice by allowing delegates to interact with some of the world’s leading technologists.”
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