It was officially announced by UK Government on 8th September 2020 that thirty of the best British tech companies (which have applications within the growing Smart Cities sector) have been chosen as the first participants of the UK Government Department for International Trade’s (DIT) new Tech Export Academy programme. The 30 businesses chosen include us - Awen Collective!
The DIT Tech Export Academy is an exciting 9 month programme providing a package of support from both the public and private sectors, enabling the 30 businesses to expand and grow their businesses in the Asia-Pacific region.
The programme includes two virtual trade missions to each to a different half of the Asia-Pacific countries, and will culminate in a physical trade mission to Thailand supported by the Thai Government Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. The programme will focus specifically on Smart Cities, which is very important in a region that has many of the worlds megacities and a significant desire for growth and progress.
Daniel Lewis, CEO of Awen Collective said “Team Awen are very excited to exploring the Asia Pacific market with the help of the Department of International Trade, as well as partners such as PwC, Deloitte, KPMG, EY, BDO and others. It’s an entirely new region for us to explore - a region which is full of opportunities for our Dot product to truly make a difference to Cyber Resilience for Smart Cities, Critical National Infrastructure and Manufacturing.”
The programme features a wide range of businesses - including those providing services and products in: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Property surveying, Urban planning, Cycling solutions, Electric vehicle chargin, ID solutions and much more. Awen is one of a couple of cyber security companies chosen, and the only one offering a specific software solution for the discovery of assets and vulnerabilities on Operational Technologies (OT).
The programme was kicked off on the 8th September 2020 with a speech by Graham Stuart MP - UK Government Minister for Exports, and a speech by Ajarin Pattanapanchai - Permanent Secretary of the Thai Government Ministry of Digital Economy and Society.
Ajarin Pattanapanchai giving a speech to the DIT Tech Export Academy cohort
The virtual programme kick-off also included a panel consisting of DIT’s Chief Scientific Adviser Dr Mike Short, Oriel Petry (Director of the Technology and Advanced Manufacturing Directorate), Colin Sinclair (CEO of the Knowledge Quarter in Liverpool) and Jane Morrison-Ross (CEO at tech trade body ScotlandIS).
The 30 companies have been split into two cohorts to make it more manageable for the organisers and partners. The cohorts have been named Avalon and Camelot, with Awen appropriately being in the Avalon cohort. Here are the thirty chosen ones: