Tech: What’s going on in 2019
The British Centres for Business hosted a fantastic tech forum this month, bringing together UK companies to hear from Alison Young of the Department of International Trade on Tech procurement at Expo and John Downes from Capita talking us through strategic planning & partnerships, with Joe Hepworth the CEO of BCB opening the forum.
It was great insight from Alison hearing about the highlights of the Expo Procurement Conference in November last year, and some exciting stuff happening with British companies getting involved.
2019 is the year for Tech procurement for the Expo with the introduction of the online market place being launched Q4 of 2018, with the aim of posting 250+ opportunities in 2019 worth AED 4.6 billion (GBP 974.2 million). There is also a real emphasis on transparency and inclusivity to ensure everyone gets a ‘piece of the pie’ with spend being shared across 57 countries, 56% of all awarded are with SMEs who will also receive 21% of all spend and that number is likely to grow. All of this points to positive news for British tech SMEs, especially those involved with Innovation & Future Technologies.
The UK is in the top 10 of suppliers, ranking 2nd only to the UAE itself with 1,291 suppliers registered in the UK, and thus positioned to fill the demand. Make sure to get your business registered on the expo website and be ready to tender on the upcoming projects for Q1, 2 & 3. https://omp.expo2020dubai.com/about/
John Downes from Capita was our key speaker at the BCB Tech Forum and shared a lot of his insight into strategy, how Capita utilize strategic partnerships with Start-Ups and SMEs, as well as his overview of British business opportunities in the region.
The opportunities for Start-Ups and SMEs with a truly unique selling point that adds real value, and the capabilities to white-label to, or partner with, big players have the potential to really take-off. Everyone is looking for innovation, and for large conglomerates (that tend to be lacking in innovation and stuck in their ways) it is strategically and feasibly smarter to partner with the innovator rather then try to become the innovator.
The future looks bright for British Tech, and even brighter for those looking at strategic placement in the Middle East post-Brexit. If you are a UK Tech company thinking of the future, get in touch with us at the British Centres for Business. We can assist you in market entry, trade services and business set-up via our incubator and contacts.