An Island Destined for Digital Success
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- Created on 12 January 2016
- Written by Steve Burrows
From time to time many of us pause for breath, look around, and ask how we are doing compared to our competitors, so I thought it might be interesting to take a quick look at the tech scene in Jersey.
When I started looking at the Isle of Man ICT sector in 2008 Jersey was behind us in many ways - poorer tech infrastructure, ICT businesses more focused on supporting the finance sector instead of creating original value, few signs of innovation or joined up / strategic thinking in respect of exploiting the ICT sector as a value creator in its own right. How things have changed. Perhaps as a result of their over-exposure to the finance sector and the problems and contraction it has suffered, the States seem to have climbed on the tech bandwagon big time. As with the Isle of Man’s Vision 2020, Jersey is clearly banking on tech being a major engine for future economic development, so what are they doing?
Most notable is the Digital Jersey initiative, formed in 2012 as a collaboration between tech industry and government. Digital Jersey is pulling together all the players in very visible collaboration for common interest, and this visibility is interesting of itself. The activities of tech companies, tech initiatives and leading technologists are being played out in public for the world to see, delivering a clear message that Jersey is open for ICT business and is not waiting for innovators to come to the island, it’s getting on and supporting the creation of local innovation. The mission statement of Digital Jersey is succinct and clear - “To build a new, digital industry for Jersey”. It recognises Jersey’s past weakness in tech, and aims to build a new industry as a significant contributor to Jersey’s wealth. Digital Jersey’s achievements to date seem to be impressive, they appear to be generating real cultural change in Jersey business.
The current issue of Jersey’s business magazine, BL, seems full of tech with major features on Fintech (Finance Technology) and the potential impact of Robotics, in contrast to our local publications where this pro-bono newspaper column is the primary recognition that ICT is a significant contributor to our businesses and wealth. BL Magazine would not be publishing lots of tech content if it put their readers off, so presumably they feel their heavy concentration on tech reflects the interests of their business community.
Jersey is learning to code and to execute digital projects. The Digital Jersey Coding Program is a formal vocational course teaching adults to program, it is currently running its third six-month training course and boasts that all students from the first course, and most from the second, have now found work in the digital industry. Addressing softer skills, Digital Jersey is also running a course in Consultancy to help people transition into Business Analysis or Project Management - both complex in-demand skills needed to drive digital innovation. Remarkably both of the coding and consultancy courses are being delivered by a coalition of existing practitioners from Jersey’s ICT sector who are growing their own future competitors in the interests of the island.
Digital Jersey has also partnered with the Department of Education to create a "Business & Enterprise Course” for 14 - 18 year olds covering Entrepreneurship and basic business skills, and in partnership with Jersey Telecom is backing the new Jersey Coders club which will provide less formal coding and tech skills learning opportunities for schoolchildren along the lines of the Isle of Man’s Code Club. Clearly Jersey is serious about growing its ICT skill pool instead of depending on importing foreign talent or offshore outsourcing.
This article is starting to sound like a eulogy for Digital Jersey, but the organisation is remarkable in that it seems to have a finger in every possible pie and to be carrying off its multiple roles with aplomb. The organisation has established premises where people can meet, hold events, learn and work together - The Hub. It provides a mobile device test lab so that developers can test their websites and apps across a wide range of phones and tablets - this is in partnership with Collaborate.je, a community group which encourages and supports tech & digital collaboration, and holds a weekly innovation evening and has run several Hackathons. It probably goes without saying that the Collaborate.je activities take place in the Digital Jersey Hub - collaboration across organisations is very evident in all of Jersey’s ICT sector development activities.
The latest Jersey Hackathon was on the theme of Digital Health, which brings us to MedTech. Jersey has recognised MedTech as a major digital opportunity and is going for it. MedTech.je is a consortium of technology and health organisations collaborating to provide a range of BioMed / MedTech services and capabilities in partnership with the NHS and major global technology and service providers. MedTech.je were sponsors of the hackathon and are now helping the winners, team “It's a Gamble!” bring their product Beancon (Beacon), an app to assist emergency services with locating people in distress, to market. This collaborative approach is helping Jersey to create homegrown innovation whilst simultaneously demonstrating execution capability to inward investors; MedTech.je aims to establish Jersey as a “global digital health centre of excellence.”.
MedTech or eHealth is of course not the only string to the Jersey ICT sector’s bow; you would expect the finance sector to be a big target. Digital Jersey are collaborating with local finance sector companies and bodies for the creation of FinTech, and with the Financial Services Commission on the creation of RegTech (Regulatory Technology - for example self-service mechanisms for customers to provide their KYC online).
In addition to successfully fostering collaboration Jersey is enthusiastically showcasing its new digital skills and initiatives, and in the last quarter of 2015 held both a FinTech conference with around 250 delegates and 20 speakers, and the 2015 Tech Fair which attracted over 4,500 visitors to see the technology on display. The Jersey Tech Fair has become an annual event, jointly organised by Digital Jersey and BCS The Chartered Institute for IT - more collaboration. The Techtribes.je website keeps people up to date on the Jersey digital scene, events, news etc. and is a collaboration of over a hundred and twenty techie people, sixty or so tech firms, and a smorgasbord of community groups and media publishers across over thirty countries demonstrating the reach that all this public collaboration and exhibitionism has achieved for Jersey.
Obviously talk is cheap, but the Hub, training courses, conferences and exhibitions definitely cost. Jersey is putting its money where its mouth is and it seems to be paying off, the latest recruit is the opening by Specsavers of a Jersey office to house an expansion of the digital media team that creates the company’s online presence and advertising - having struggled with recruitment in Guernsey the company has turned to Jersey to expand its digital workforce. It may still be early days in Jersey’s ICT revolution but the strategy seems to be working.
Speaking of strategy, Digital Jersey’s new CEO has recently published the organisation’s new strategy and it inspires confidence, if they continue to carry through with the verve and energy displayed over the past couple of years it is difficult to imagine that they will not succeed. Next up in 2016 is the development of partnerships with major UK innovation hubs including TechCity, TechUK and Digital Catapult, and from here it appears that they’re going to have a very attractive story to pitch into London.
Some will be reading this article and wondering how Jersey have created this revolution, and part of the answer is money. One needs both talented people and hard cash to get things done. Digital Jersey was formed in 2012, and incorporated mid 2013 so calendar year 2014 was its first full trading year. During 2014 it burned through over one million pounds, largely in grant income from the Economic Development Department - the States is committing serious cash to the project. The annual report for 2014 claims that this cash generated over 100 new jobs, 30 digital startups, and 8 inward investments. I will be fascinated to read the 2015 report but I suspect based on 2014 results that the States can be well satisfied with their return on investment. It would be good to see the Isle of Man making similar investment and commitment, at the moment it looks as though Jersey, whilst not having our strength in eGaming, is on track to take the lion’s share of the digital economic opportunities available to the Crown Dependencies.
