Mayor of London and global tech leaders to launch London Technology Week

LONDON, England – The Mayor of London will today be joined by some of the leading figures in the global tech sector including the former Mayor of New York City, Michael R Bloomberg, to launch the first ever London Technology Week, the largest collection of tech events ever seen in Europe.

Over 200 independently run events will be attended by over 30,000 tech entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders and developers from around the world who will hear first-hand from some of the world’s biggest tech companies, including Microsoft, Samsung, Google, Eventbrite and Yammer, as well as home-grown successes, such as Mind Candy and Hassle.

Coinciding with the launch of London Technology Week, new research by Oxford Economics, commissioned by London & Partners – the Mayor’s promotional organisation for London – demonstrates how rapidly London’s tech sector is expanding and the increasingly important role that tech plays in the London economy.

Over the next decade, London’s digital tech sector is expected to grow at a rate of 5.1 per cent per annum*, creating an additional £12 billion of economic activity and 46,000 new jobs in the capital.

Meanwhile, separate research by South Mountain Economics and supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies – also released today – says that the tech and information sector in London, Southeast and East England – including Oxford and Cambridge – is growing faster than that of California. Its analysis also reveals that London is the world leader in financial technology, employing more workers in the sector than New York City and San Francisco Silicon Valley.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson will also be joined at a major launch event for London Technology Week today (16 June) by the Chairman of Sequoia Capital, Sir Michael Moritz, Tech City UK Chair Joanna Shields, Decoded Co-founder Kathryn Parsons, and Sebastian Siemiatkowski – CEO of Swedish online payments Klarna. At that event Klarna is expected to confirm that it is launching in the UK, with London as its base, and will invest more than £100 million in product development and roll-out.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “Tech Week is a superb opportunity to hail the success of London’s tech sector, which despite only being in adolescence already makes a tremendous contribution to our economy and is outperforming our rivals around the globe. The tentacles of our digital army now spread to every corner of the capital and far beyond. We forecast that they will generate a whopping £12 billion of economic activity and 46,000 new jobs in the capital over the next decade.”

Sir Michael Moritz, Chairman of Sequoia Capital, said: “In Silicon Valley we are often too busy bathing in our private sunshine. But the change in London’s technology climate has got us checking our weather apps. The weather alerts show that there will be plenty of opportunities to invest in technology companies based in London in the coming years – some of which will become global powerhouses.”

Joanna Shields OBE, Chair of Tech City UK, said: “London is a digital powerhouse. In recent years the tech sector has played a crucial role leading economic recovery, accounting for 27 per cent of new job creation. We are producing world-leading digital businesses, which in turn are fuelling wealth creation and employment. London is one of the fastest growing tech hubs and is proving its credentials as the location of choice for entrepreneurs to start and scale a successful digital business.”

Sir Richard Branson, Pioneer-at-Large for Virgin Media Pioneers and Virgin Start Up, said: “The tech entrepreneurial spirit in London is thriving. Today, there are more great ideas, investors and working spaces across the city. It’s a great time to showcase the capital’s successes and opportunities to the global tech sector and demonstrate what London has to offer.”

Michael R. Bloomberg, Former Mayor of New York City, said: “Ten years ago, no one thought of New York or London as a competitor to Silicon Valley – but today, more and more tech companies are looking to our cities as places to launch and grow, because they offer such diversity, creative talent, and high quality of life. Tech companies thrive on data, and the new Center for Urban Science and Progress in London will harness the power of data to make London an even better place, just as NYU-CUSP is doing in New York. Bloomberg Associates is looking forward to working with Mayor Johnson and his team to build on London’s tech momentum and create more jobs in the city.”

Events across London Technology week will highlight London’s expertise in areas such as financial tech, creative tech, retail tech and gaming. The Internet World exhibition and Tech Transformation Forum will showcase the most cutting-edge technology innovations and strategies, while other events include a live demonstration of second screen technology during the Portugal v Germany World Cup match; consumer tech demos, including a real-life racing game with miniature AI robotic cars; and Imperial College scientists demonstrating how they are creating a ‘virtual brain’ in order to help understand how our brains work.

Keynote speakers throughout London Technology Week include Michael Birch, co-founder of Bebo; Simon Breakwell, co-founder of Expedia; and Brent Hoberman, co-founder of PRO Founders Capital.

Ahead of London Technology Week the Mayor of London Boris Johnson will attend the Bloomberg Tech summit – a private gathering of tech leaders this morning (16 June) organised by Bloomberg Philanthropies. At the summit it is expected to be confirmed that King’s College London and the University of Warwick are working with Bloomberg Associates, the Mayor of London’s Office and the London Borough of Southwark to advance the goal of establishing a CUSP London, a branch of New York University’s Centre for Urban Science and Progress to be based at Canada Water from 2018. Bloomberg Associates will also be advising the GLA on a range of tech sector issues.

CUSP London will bring together researchers, businesses, local authorities and government agencies to apply urban science in improving public health and wellbeing. This international partnership will train a new generation of postgraduate and PHD level urban scientists with the skills and knowledge to benefit London and other major UK and international cities. Once fully operational it will accommodate over 100 researchers and 500 students.

London Technology Week has been organised by UBM Live in association with London & Partners – the Mayor’s official promotional organisation for London, ExCeL London and Tech London Advocates.

There will be free, ticketed and closed events across the week.