dynamites 15 supplement

7/24/2019 Dynamites 15 Supplement

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THE North Easts outstanding tech talenthas been celebrated at North East Iand echnology Awards, the B

Dynamites 15.aking centre stage at the awards was

Beverley Dean, founder of Special iApps, whowas hailed as the top achiever.

Charlie Hoult, Chair of Dynamo, whichstaged the awards, said: Te awards are testa-ment to the North East being a hot spot for Iwith the Dynamites shining a light on andcelebrating the fantastic success stories.

Te B Dynamites 15 Award winnerscomprised:

Outstanding Achievement, sponsored byBT: Beverley Dean, founder of Special iApps

Beverley Deans youngest son William, whoborn in 2005, has Downs syndrome andwatching him struggle to use apps on an iPadwas the catalyst to create a global appsbusiness that can benefit children and adultswith a range of disabilities or learningdifficulties. See Page 4

Rising Star, sponsored by the Universityof Sunderland: Kieran Stratford, Orange

Bus and Nathan Fuller, NorthumberlandCounty Council

Nathan Fuller has worked within theInformation Services department sinceOctober 2012 and during that time has shoneas a leading light within I. He embodies allthe best qualities of an outstanding employeeand is always keen to go the extra mile.

During his interview with Orange Bus,Kieran Stratford was set a task that shouldhave taken him a week, but completed it inone night. He has continued to exceedexpectations ever since, including buildinghis first website in just four hours. See CentrePages

Partner Award, sponsored by OpencastSoftware: Alex Shiel

As head of intellectual property at law firmWard Hadaway, he has played a major part inmany of the most successful companies tohave emerged from the North Ea sts tech

sector in the last 20 years. He continues toperform a vital role in helping new, emergingand established tech businesses make themost commercial use of their talents.

Innovator of the Year, sponsored by Sage:Omlis

Omlis, a global mobile payment solutionsprovider, brings highly powerful and effectivesolutions to all mobile commerce security. Aspioneers in high integrity development formobile payments, Omlis is reinventingsecurity with a goal of delivering fault tolerantencryption. See Centre Pages

Highly Commended ZeroLightCollaborator of the Year, sponsored by

Tech North: Cloud Innovation Centre (CIC)A collaboration between Newcastle

University and Newcastle City Council, CIChas established a world-leading Centre ofExcellence in Cloud Computing and Big Data

analysis techniques. See Page 4Future Workforce, sponsored by Sharpe

Recruitment: Dev AcademyTe academy aims to solve the skills

shortage challenge through a sustainable andcommercially focused model. It has created aprogramme that blends recruitment, trainingand mentoring with its unique understanding

of how businesses operate.Skills Developer Award, sponsored by

Invest South TynesideSkills Developer Employer: HMRCTe leadership team for a newly formed

Newcastle Digital Delivery Centre was given achallenge to deliver an ambitious digitalstrategy. Key to its success was introducingnew talent into HMRC and finding andbringing on able people already in theorganisation to build an in-house digitalcapability.

Highly Commended: BIM CampusSkills Developer Educator: Baltic Training

ServicesBaltic is committed to providing young

adults with the ver y best qualifications,training and learning experience to ensurethey have the skills and knowledge to developinto the I specialists of the future. In the past

five years, it has worked with employers tocreate more than 2,000 UK apprenticeshipopportunities.

Growth Explosion Award, sponsored byInvest North East England and UKTI

Growth Explosion Start-up: Redu GroupLtd

Te company is an affiliate marketing

business that focuses on finding the best dealsand discounts for customers from major highstreet and online brands and now is in the topten sales referrers for major high street brands.See Centre Pages

Growth Explosion High Growth: BedeGaming

In just three years Bede Gaming has evolvedfrom a start-up into an established player inthe online gaming industry, with 155 staff,offices in Newcastle, London and Bulgaria andseveral blue-chip clients.

Growth Explosion Established CompanyAward: OnTrac

An I solutions company based in Gates-head, it supports more than 300 clients and inexcess of 25,000 individual users. It servesprivate, public, and social-sector organisa-tions and was ranked 21st in the 15th annualSunday imes Hiscox ech rack 100.

Highly Commended: Aspire echnoSolutions

Project of the Year Award sponsorAccenture

Project of the Year Corporate AwarUbisoft CRC

A global scale video games publisheUbisoft has launched a Consumer Rela

ship Centre (CRC), in Newcastle. Te Cas a hub for all Ubisofts interactions wplayers in Europe, Middle East and Asiterritories, integrating both consumer teams and community managers.

Project of the Year Public Sector AwMy Trav Project Team. Newcastle CityCouncil

Te team understands how importanindependent travel is for helping childyoung people with special educationalto increase their life choices. During thyear it has developed Myrav, a smartpApp, which helps guide the user throujourney.

Te awards were supported by B, Ature, Invest North East England, UKI,South yneside, Opencast Software, ShRecruitment, Sage, ech North and theUniversity of Sunderland.

Dynamites 15 celebrate outstanding tech talen

Celebrating their success the winners and those who were highly commended at the Dynamites 15 Awards>

THE JOURNAL THURSDAY, OCTOB


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2 THE JOURNAL THURSDAY, OCTOB

Superfast fibre broadband offers new opportunities to encouragesocial and economic regeneration, support inward investment inlocal economies and to stimulate business growth.

For BusinessesFibre is already providing a major economic boost to UK SMEs, encouragingbusiness growth, job creation, new sales and opening up new markets across theglobe. It enables:-

Companies to compete successfully, regardless of location. Collaborative working, reducing time spent travelling as well as offering flexible

working and improved work-life balance. Files to be sent and received more efficiently and also allows real time working. Improved productivity and customer ser vice. Time and money savings thanks to the faster speeds, efficiencies and innovative

services that fibre broadband delivers.

For HomesAt home fibre broadband makes life easier. Its not just about doing one thing onlinefaster, it's about everyone in the home being able to do their own thing online all atthe same time.

Fibre broadband gives users the ability to run multiple bandwidth-hungryapplications simultaneously. This could include:-

Sending and receiving large amounts of data much more quickly. Accessing school homework networks. Learning at home via educational websites. Watching catch up TV.

It also makes communication with family and friends much easier, regardless ofwhere they are in the world, and enables access to a wide range of services whichsaves time and money. And if you work from home, run a business from home orhave dedicated business premises, fibre will transform the way you work.

For CommunitiesLocal residents can benefit from access to a range of online services, online learningopportuni ties and better entertainment. Fibre broadband provides access forpeople who wouldnt normally use the internet at home and enable them to keep intouch with family and friends. Fibre improves the way community groups promote,manage and engage with local people about their work. It promotes digitalinclusion amongst disadvantaged communities across the UK, making it aneveryday reality.

www.btplc.com

British Telecommunications plc 2015. Registered office: 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJ. Registered in England No: 1800000.

Keeping up to speed with fibre

We energize the successof businesses and communitiesaround the world throughthe imagination ofour people andsmart technology.

Sage is a massive supporter of the IT economy in theNorth East and a proud sponsor of Dynamites 15.

To find out more about us, visit

hp://www.sage.co.uk/about-sage

Department of Computing, Engineering and Technology

We work with employers to produce highly ski lledcomputing graduates with the skills to meet thedemands of business and industry in the North East.

Why students study Computing and Engineering at Sunderland:

A modern, award-winning, purpose-built campus by the River Wearwith state-of-the-art facilities.

Excellent work placements.

We have signed partnerships with Sony Playstation, CISCO andSunderland Software City. We also engage with Microsoft, Accenture,IBM, Sage, British Airways and Dynamo North East.

Our three year Computing degree courses areaccredited by the British Computer Society(BCS), The Chartered Institute for IT for thepurposes of fully meeting the academicrequirement for registration as a Chartered IT Professional.

For further information contact:

Tel:0191 515 2731

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.sunderland.ac.uk/faculties/apsc/ourdepartments/cet/

DYNAMITES 15

Like everyteenager,

my dreamhas alwaysbeen towork for

a videogamescompany

FRESH from GCSE success to diving into thend of coding, the sky is the limit for talentetice turned programmer Kieran Stratford.

At just the age of 17, Kieran has already iduring his relatively short, nine month stintOrange Bus, a national digital agency, whicoffices in Newcastle and London and workclients such as Joules, Philips, the NHS and

Dismissing the advice of those who warnagainst an apprenticeship in the industry afrustrated by the lack of IT education at his Kieran, who always had a keen eye for codiembarked on a career in IT. He began with successful 15-week training course at the ITApprentice Hub, created by Dynamo in coltion with Baltic Training Services.

Since then, employment as an apprenticedeveloper with Orange Bus followed and helement; working as a programmer on new

nologies and with experienced developers.However, it hasnt all been plain sailing fo

who had to literally beg his parents to allowpursue a career in IT and leave behind his sstudies, just three months in. After achievinGCSEs, its not hard to see why persuading getting his familys blessing was such a tall

Kieran said: Ive always had an interest itechnology because of my dad, so I was detto get into the industry. With school it was abeing told I was unlikely to have a successfuin IT, so the best option would be to stay in tion. Gaining first-hand experience was all though, and Im grateful that my parents hasupportive, despite worrying at first and loofor my best interests, as any responsible aduwould do.

I couldnt have asked for a better educatwhat I experienced at the IT Apprentice HuWhether you are new to the industry or havinterest in IT, it is beneficial to both sets of p

and I grew in confidence after picking up min-depth knowledge and expertise.

Kieran previously worked with hardwareing computers and servers but has alreadthree games after learning the basics durinat the Apprentice Hub, through working in and learning from experienced people, as whis spare time.

During his interview with Orange Bus, hetask that should have taken him a week to cChris Scudder, technical director, was imprwhen Kieran completed it in one night. He continued to exceed expectations ever sincincluding building his first website in just fowith big plans for the future.

Kieran added: Like every teenager, my dalways been to work for a video games comProgramming is limitless, as you can creatething, so I just want to keep progressing andeven more. Hopefully one day I will be ablemy own company and start a business.

KIERAN STRATFORD

ORANGE BUS


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NEWCASLEBASED Omlis wasounded by Markus Milsted in

his home city just two years ago,but it already has global

mbitions and is rapidlyncreasing its number of staff.

Solutions architect MarkusMilsted launched Omlis inNovember 2013 and it has 50

mployees now, but wants torow this to 120 by the end ofhis year, due to seeing greatpportunities in the market for

mobile payment technology.From the very beginning, we

have aspired to create aompany founded in the North

East, but with a global ambi-ion, says Milsted, chiefxecutive. In September, Omlisnnounced its partnership with

Digital Pathways, a leadingprovider of data security andeakage prevention services inhe UK. Te UK enjoys amartphone penetration of 68%nd currently boasts the most

mature m-commerce market inEurope.

Omlis claims to be pioneers inechnology which can be usedo make mobile payments moreecure. Its aim is to deliverncryption technology with the

mobile phone in mind. Omlis isdesigning a product specificallyfor the demands of securingmobile device transactions andsays this is not always the casewith other commerciallyavailable encryption technologygadgets.

Omlis believes there aresignificant growth opportunitiesprovided by attracting newclients who face pressing issuesof being currently unbanked.

And this will help tackle thedamaging effects of fraud.

About its innovation in thisarea of business, Omlis says ithas developed encryptionarchitecture, which securestransactions directly within themobile channel. echnologyuses unique device authentica-tion and data storage designedspecifically for digital payments.

Omlis strives for a futurewhere anyone, anywhere, canuse their mobile device andsafely conduct financialtransactions, says Milsted.

Omlis technology is con-structed with high integritycomputer language Ada, whichcurrently is applied to militaryand power station sectors.

Security is the issue raised morethan any other as mobilefinancial activity grows.Consumers accessing mobileactivity are growing in numbers,even though there is uneaseabout security. Tis problemwas highlighted by a string ofhigh-profile attacks which laidbare the consequences of poorcybersecurity.

Increased mobile usagewidens up the market to thosewho are unbanked currently.Globally there are two billionpeople in this category, Omlis

says, based on research from theWorld Bank in early 2015.Consumers need to juggleconvenience and security.

Omlis encryption technolo-gies enable owners of sensitiveinformation, such as paymentservice providers, financial insti-tutions, retailers and appdevelopers, to securelyexchange data. Its technologyuses differentiated sensoryinputs, random key generation

and unique verifier authentica-tion. Omlis claims its architec-ture is compatible with anyexisting infrastructure. It says itsupports a mobile paymentsnetwork with limitless scalab-lilty.

Omlis uses a Correctness byConstruction developmentprocess which increases systemreliability by eliminatingopportunities for humaninterference and eradicating anychance of human error. Omlisgoal is security and uninter-rupted customer experience.Te firm says a better paymentssystem can close social, culturaland financial gaps. Also, it istargeting a market which ismoving rapidly forward.

HE JOURNAL THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015

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WIH ambitious growth plansn the horizon, buoyed by key

partnerships and an ever-ncreasing followership, theres

plenty to celebrate at ReduGroup.

Te innovative marketingpecialists, which is run by

North East entrepreneurs GaryHunter and Sam Morton and

mploys 17 people, is on targeto more than double its growthn just its second year.

Achieving substantial salesncreases and delivering brandwareness on behalf of its onlineetailer partners, through itsuite of websites, blogs, social

media activity and mobile apps,ruly is Redu Groups bread and

butter.Its core principles are to find

he best deals and discounts forts customers from all of the

UKs major high street andnline brands, with the Seaham-

based firm now in the top tenales referrers for major hightreet brands, which includeohn Lewis, Argos, oys R Usnd Marks and Spencer.

Established in March 2014,he company has gone fromtrength to strength followingontinued investment, hard

work and key partnerships,ncluding collaborating with

Ashleigh Swan, BritainsFavourite Money Saver. It

ertainly is an exciting time forRedu Group with many funnitiatives and key projects lined

up in the near future.For example, through utilising

the popularity of Newcastle-based Ashleigh and hermoney-saving advice, which isshowcased throughout some ofthe UKs well-known mediaoutlets, and the companysdevelopment of her website(www.ashleighmoneysaver.co.uk) and Facebook page, hasresulted in an online audienceof more than 300,000. With thedevelopment of furtherwebsites, this tally has increasedto in excess of 500,000.

Sam Morton, director at ReduGroup, said: Above all, we arecommitted to our clients andraising their brand awarenessthrough a range of digitalmethods. Te company hasenjoyed a successful first year

and our projections suggest aneven greater performance inyear two, so we must build onthis period of positivity.

Both Gary and Sam possess awealth of experience in thesector, with true entrepreneurialtendencies and the ability tounlock growth, with manyprevious business successes.

Gary, who co-founded ReduGroup, formerly owned andbuilt-up a car leasing onlineportal, which was bought byVertu Motors, the fourth largestcompany in the region and thesixth largest motor dealership inthe UK, prior to establishingRedu Group in March last year.

Sam has also enjoyed a greatdeal of success with his previous

ventures, including selling hisfirst business to multimediaproduction company, en Alps,which formerly had Sir BobGeldof as a director, andco-founding ScreenreachInteractive.

Tese successes havefollowed the pair to Redu Group.Boasting more than 3m inretailer sales and over 1.7m postclicks per month, as a directresult from its work, the futurelooks bright for the firm.

Sam added: It has beenexciting journey so far for theentire Group and everyone buysinto what were trying toachieve. Our partnerships areexciting and theres plenty moreto come.

REDU GROUP

Growing from strength to strength

DYNAMITES 15

Gary>Hunterand SamMorton

Markus Milsted>

OMLIS

North East firm with global ambitions


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WE want to help and supportbusinesses leapfrog the competi-tion.

Tose are the words of SteveCaughey, chief executive ofArjuna echnologies Limited

and echnical Consultant to theCloud Innovation Centre (CIC),Newcastles answer to encourag-ing innovation in the North Eastand revolutionising the way inwhich businesses do business.

Its goal is to establish aworld-leading centre of excel-lence in cloud computing andbig data analysis.

Te collaboration betweenNewcastle University andNewcastle City Council ismaking waves with its pioneer-ing ideas and ability to attractglobal companies to the region,not to mention the work it doesto help shape the young minds ofthe future and help combat theskills gap in the I industry. TeCIC has already won 1m worth

of funding from the Departmentof Media and Cultural Studieswhich is available to regionalorganisations to help educateand increase the skill-setsurrounding cloud computing

and data analytics, with a coreteam of technical experts toprovide advice and assistance.

Tis has not only createdpartnerships with innovativeorganisations looking to up-skillaround the cloud agenda, buthas helped address the skillsgaps in the industry throughcollaboration and knowledgetransfer, as well a s identified newbusiness opportunities.

Mr Caughey said: Te NorthEast is a hub of I and digitalexcellence and initiatives like theCloud Innovation Centre mustbe promoted and utilised. Tefact that Newcastle UniversitysComputing department isnumber one in the country forresearch impact, pipping

Cambridge University to the top,demonstrates the talent andresources that are available inthe city and regionally.

In addition, the CIC assisted inwinning the Regional DigitalCatapult bid and is actively

involved in a number oDynamo, Newcastle CoNewcastle University-lhas also launched the iNorth East Data Exchanwhich would increase

sharing of public and psector data.

Its Cloud Series has bparticularly effective; bthree of the worlds leacompanies Amazon, and Microsoft to the rdescribe their long-termstrategies and relevancbusiness community. Tlaunch of programmesschool children will folcollaboration with Sageaimed at getting youngthe I and digital indus

boosting local and natioeconomies.

Te future certainly lobright for the CIC, the cNewcastle and the Norta whole.

CLOUD INNOVATION CENTRE

Collaboration attracts global compan

4 THE JOURNAL THURSDAY, OCTOB

RecruitmentIntelligenceNRG is the Norths

leading recruiter ofcreative & technical talent.

We help vibrant games frms, digitalplayers and a host of software businessesachieve growth and success byidentifying graduates and technologyenthusiasts who match our clientspassion for the sector.

Find the brightest talent:[email protected]

www.nrgplc.com0191 232 1222

WIH global reach and anetwork of regional and interna-tional volunteers, Special iApps ismore than just an app developer.It is an inspiration.

Beverley Dean established thenon-profit in 2011 to help bridgethe gap and provide access todigital educational resources forpeople with disabilities.

With a background in I andtelecommunications, Beverley isjoined at Special iApps by herhusband and chief technologyofficer, Colin, and Barbara Lowe,head of design and photography.

Simple and unique, its appscan be personalised to suit anychild with Downs syndrome,autism, cerebral palsy, hearingand visual impairments, poorfine motor skills and even adultswith learning difficulties.

After seeing her youngest son,William, who has Downssyndrome, struggle to use appson an iPad, this was the pivotalmoment for Beverley, whichproved to be the catalyst for whathas turned out to not only be abeneficial learning tool forWilliam, but for children in morethan 60 countries.

Starting out from a kitchentable with just two people and ahandful of volunteers, SpecialiApps has produced 11 apps andhas enjoyed more than tens ofthousands of worldwidedownloads, with 70% of its tradecoming from exports.

Te social enterprise hasbenefited from the help ofvolunteers from a number ofdifferent countries who haveprovided translations to serveeven more children internation-

ally. Special iApps first appcontained eight global languag-es, now it has 22.

Beverley said: Starting outduring the recession was

definitely a struggle, as there waslittle support to be found. It wasa case of speaking with familiesand networking single-handedly.But now, four years on, we havegrown organically and receivesupport all over the world fromvolunteers who have childrenwith disabilities and even thosewho dont, which is fantastic.

People are actively steppingforward and this has helped usreach even more childrenglobally. Teres a lot of talenthere in the North East I

community and with supportingorganisations, which is vital forany business, as you need morethan just that initial idea to getgoing.

Despite overcoming personalchallenges and stretching everyavailable resource, Special iAppsfounders drive and determina-tion has seen the social enter-

prise make a difference to thelives of so many disabledchildren, not just in the UK, butthroughout the world.

www.specialiapps.org

SPECIAL IAPPS

Making a difference to so man

DYNAMITES 15

Beverley Dean of Special iApps, right, and above with son William>

Steve Caughey>

dynamites 15 supplement

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