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SME Snapshot - March 2024
Your monthly update on the latest industry news, opportunities for SMEs, and member's announcements.
Industry News
UK Space Agency
The UK Space Agency is opening new headquarters at the Harwell Science Campus’ Space Cluster in Oxfordshire, and offices in Scotland, Wales and the Midlands. Aligned with the government’s Levelling Up strategy, the expansion will enable the Agency to collaborate more closely with the UK’s thriving space sector, while promoting regional skills and job opportunities to deliver increasingly ambitious missions and capabilities.
Vodafone Supercharging Small Business
A new report from Vodafone has found that SMEs across the UK could be missing out on up to £8.6bn a year in productivity savings, unless the Government accelerates the rollout of 5G Standalone (5G SA) mobile connectivity.
Federation of Small Business: Redefining Intelligence
Federation of Small Business published a report on AI adoption within small firms. The report highlighted small firms are adopting AI at a rapid pace, with one in five (20%) already using it, and 11 in 20 (55%) recognising its potential benefits. The report also highlighted concerns on capabilities of small firms and ethical risks, leading to calls for protection for small firms from deepfakes and improvements to the education system to allow Artificial Intelligence (AI) to live up to its true potential.
Xero Small Business Manifesto
Xero launched its Small Business Manifesto calling for greater support for small firms in key areas.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Decarbonisation Innovation Programme
UK innovators at the cutting edge of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies will receive government backing to use their work to cut carbon emissions across key sectors – helping make the best use of renewables and increase efficiency.
World Intellectual Property Organization
A new World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) report produced shows IP-backed lending is becoming more available to UK businesses. IP intensive industries account for over a quarter of UK output – £300 billion a year. Intangible assets may make-up around 70-80% of a firms’ value. UK Government announces a new working group led by the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to drive action on IP-backed finance.
Competition and Markets Authority
The Competition and Markets Authority has published its Annual Plan for 2024 to 2025. The Annual Plan updates the CMA’s near-term Areas of Focus for the next 12 months, as it takes on new responsibilities under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers (DMCC) Bill, expected to receive Royal Assent in April 2024. The bill will strengthen the CMA’s ability to foster competition, innovation, and growth in digital markets and to protect consumers from harm.
Science and Tech is our Superpower
The ‘Science and Tech is our Superpower’ campaign was launched by DSIT, aiming to make sure science and technology firms in the UK that are ready for growth can access the funding they need from the UK to boost long term economic growth and create jobs.
Pension Reforms
The Chancellor announced pension fund reforms as a further step in the government’s plan to boost British business and increase returns for savers. This includes requirements for Defined Contribution (DC) pension funds to publicly disclosure their level of investment in the UK.
The announcement was followed by news that a fresh £8 billion investment from Australia’s biggest pension fund, AustralianSuper, will take its total investment in the UK to over £18 billion by the end of the decade.
Opportunities
NATO DIANA
NATO DIANA announced the expansion of its transatlantic network of test centres and accelerator sites. DIANA’s footprint will now comprise 23 accelerator sites (up from 11) and 182 test centres (up from 90) in 28 Allied nations.
Member news
Crossword Cybersecurity
Crossword Cybersecurity announced the launch of Trillion HarVista, a first of its kind tool which allows enterprise security teams to search conversations on the dark web in a clean and sanitised environment.
Kortext
Kortext has reached a new agreement with Vodacom Business, part of Africa’s leading mobile communications group, to provide digital learning material – including textbooks and videos – to higher education institutions in South Africa.
OneID
OneID has partnered with Confirmation of Payee services provider Surepay. The alliance aims to fortify businesses with an enhanced layer of protection, bolstering their ability to combat the increasing threat of online fraud.
Person Centred Software
Person Centred Software announced a global partnership with CommonAge, The Commonwealth Association for the Ageing. Through this partnership, Person Centred Software will actively contribute to CommonAge's initiatives and work.
Informed Solutions
Informed Solutions has been appointed as a Technology Client-side Partner for UKHSA. A multi-year contract will see the provision of strategic advice and proactive partnership to support the continued development of the UKHSA’s digital maturity in transition from a pandemic response to an enduring and extensive health protection service.
ACF Technologies
ACF Technologies has expanded their offering with a WhatsApp integration. This new solution empowers organizations to offer appointment scheduling and virtual queuing within the communication tool. The solution is being successfully used by customers in Latin America and is now available to organizations across North America and Europe.
Absolute Software
Absolute Software announced that it has been named a leader in the most recent Frost & Sullivan Radar for Endpoint Security. To produce the benchmarking report, Frost & Sullivan assessed more than 50 endpoint security vendors to identify 18 top innovators in the market.
Riverlane
Riverlane and Rigetti Computing announced their participation in a project led by the US Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to explore the challenges of integrating a quantum computer with a large-scale, supercomputing centre.
Riverlane has also partnered with Rolls-Royce and Xanadu to secure more than £400,000 grant funding from Innovate UK to accelerate the development of applications that will allow quantum computers to model the flow of air through jet engines.
Riverlane has been granted two United States Patents for its “power-aware transmission of quantum control signals” and “quantum computing apparatus and associated methods”. Both patents tackle one of commercial quantum computing’s biggest challenges: engineering energy-efficient machines.
Quantum Dice
Quantum Dice, a spinout from the University of Oxford’s world-renowned quantum optics laboratory, announced its collaboration with HSBC to explore the advantages of its Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) for financial Monte Carlo simulations in a planned commercial proof of concept (PoC).
Quantum Machines
Quantum Machines announced the release of an advanced digital direct-synthesis (DDS) microwave front-end module (MW-FEM) for OPX1000, its high-density, processor-based quantum controlᵀᴹ platform.
Alicidion
Alcidion Group and Novari Health have joined forces to offer a comprehensive approach to patient journey management. The strategic partnership s the opportunity for our customers to liberate data, drive operational efficiencies, and reduce waiting times across the care continuum.
Terra Quantum
Terra Quantum has partnered with leading Korean cloud solutions provider to drive adoption of transformative technologies in key Asian markets. The collaboration focuses on joint technological solutions for private and public sectors, including financial services, manufacturing, weather forecasting, and smart city projects.
Starship Technologies
Starship Technologies, a provider of autonomous delivery services, has announced the installation of the first wireless charging station for its robots in Europe. Following collaboration with Cambourne Town Council, a fleet of its robots will now recharge between making grocery deliveries across Cambourne in Cambridgeshire.
Gemserv
Ammogen consortium partners, including Gemsev, gathered at Tyseley Energy Park (TEP) to mark the launch of the world’s largest and most efficient ammonia to hydrogen conversion project, drastically improving the efficiency, reliability, and economics of ammonia cracking. The project will deliver 200kg per day of transport-grade hydrogen.
Hazy
Hazy announced their partnership with Unbanx - the Open Banking data ownership platform – which will see the launch of the first ethical data cooperative comprising synthetically generated financial transaction data.
Cynerio
Cynerio announced the expansion of its Healthcare Cybersecurity Platform to safeguard patient data and combat escalating cyber threats.
SME Connect
With over 600 SME members, techUK understands the issues that are most relevant to the UK SME tech sector. Visit the SME Connect section of the website for all the latest insights, guidance and events, and find out how techUK can help you with a range of services, programmes and advice. If you'd like to discuss further, please contact Ed Bevan, our Head of SME Engagement.
12 March 2024
