After ceasing operations six months ago, Tech Nation is ready to relaunch. The UK startup, which helps talented tech minds from across the globe find work in the UK, announced plans to relaunch in October during Birmingham Tech Week. Here is a look at the news and what it means for the tech industry.
Money Troubles
Tech Nation went out of business in March after losing its primary source of revenue. The £12.1 million Digital Growth Grant that the company had depended on since it began its operations was granted to Barclays Eagle Labs stead, forcing the company to close. In a statement, the company said it had exhausted other options and could not “continue without core government grant funding.”
A New Tech Nation
But now UKTN is reporting that Tech Nation is scheduled to relaunch officially on October 16. Tech Nation was absorbed by Founders Forum Group a month after its shutdown in an undisclosed acquisition deal. Assumedly, the deal involved maintaining some of the core programmes the startup had started, including the Global Talent visa scheme.
The new Tech Nation will launch as a Founders Forum Group subsidiary. The company co-founder and chair, Brent Hoberman, said Tech Nation has “positioned [the country] as a world-class innovation hub” by “recognising and fostering remarkable digital talent.” Hoberman also commended Tech Nation for setting the stage for other startups. He expressed Founders Forum Group’s commitment to continue that tradition.
Trends Driving the Tech Industry
Birmingham Tech CEO and Birmingham Tech Week founder Yiannis Maos understands the impact such a company has on the country’s tech industry. In a statement responding to the relaunch announcement, the tech visionary said he was excited for Tech Nation to relaunch at Birmingham Tech Week because he had “seen first-hand the impact the organisation has had on the tech sector.”
Indeed, the UK tech industry has been growing steadily over the last decade due to visionaries like Maos and innovative startups like Tech Nation. Some of the trends currently propelling the market include:
Artificial Intelligence
AI is poised to take over human labour in many sectors or at least make processes faster and more efficient. The McKinsey Global Institute report postulates that about 40 percent of jobs in the US are in categories that could shrink before 2030. And there is no reason to believe the UK is any different.
Beyond this, AI has helped revolutionise many UK industries. In tech, AI is allowing developers to write code better and faster and complete projects with smaller teams, budgets, and less time. AI is also responsible for Optical Character Recognition (OCR), which essentially allows the conversion of an image of text into a machine-readable text format. It’s how your phone is able to scan texts when you hover the camera over a body of text, and it’s even present in the gaming industry. Live casinos, for example, utilize OCR to help recognize cards and other game elements, ensuring that the game is fair and accurate by detecting errors. Those interested in giving live casinos a try can now easily do so by visiting virtually any online casino, although it is worth visiting non-gamstop-casinos.com/review/nonstop-casino/ if you particularly prefer to bypass Gamstop restrictions.
Extended Reality
Outside AI, extended reality innovations like mixed, augmented, and virtual reality are also transforming different industries. In the corporate world, for instance, VR is allowing for more immersive collaboration between remote workers through virtual workspaces. A Microsoft report indicates that meetings conducted this way improve the feeling of collaboration and entitativity almost at the same level as face-to-face interactions.
Wrapping Up
Tech Nation has been at the helm of many of the recent developments in the UK tech industry. By training and importing tech talent, the startup has allowed a fresh influx of ideas and perspectives that are crucial to growth. It will be beneficial for the industry to see it relaunch next month.