If you ever wanted to distil the ground-breaking work that goes on day in, day out, across the year, in Jersey’s tech sector into one short, sharp hit, then Jersey TechWeek was surely it. It already feels like a world away from what was a non-stop week of activity, although it’s only really been a week since it came to an end.
Much like a swan looks graceful above the water while its feet thrash around beneath, I want to thank everybody involved in making Jersey TechWeek a reality – and keeping it ‘swan-like’ at all times.
Some 3,803 people came through the doors across the full week, to see days dedicated to the Internet of Things, Digital Health and FinTech, as well as our island’s first ever Jersey TechAwards in celebration of our digital sector, and a fantastic Skills Show run by Skills Jersey where we worked with 17 of our member organisations to promote career opportunities in ‘digital’.
From the get-go our members turned out in force – many sponsored and/or took stands outside the conference hall to promote what Jersey has to offer, and Prosperity 24.7 ran a whole day of sessions with Microsoft. 37 local and off-island speakers delivered a breadth and depth of presentations, 21 sponsors and supporting companies got involved with such enthusiasm, and our partner organisations were keen to collaborate, including Jersey Finance who supported our Fintech Day, BCS Jersey who collaborated with us on Jersey TechAwards and Leadership Jersey who held an event on ‘Leadership challenges in the new economy’.
Each conference day had a really different feel, and that was part of the plan. There were so many new faces getting involved in the IoT day, lots of excitement around a dedicated day exploring the future of Digital Health in Jersey, and a multitude of engaging questions throughout the FinTech day, the discussion could have gone on until next year!
It’s hard to single out one highlight, but for me it was the Jersey TechAwards.
It was the first time we’ve staged such an event and the Industry really got behind it; to get so many people from the sector together, to celebrate success and find time to let our hair down all in one evening was a really special moment.
The dust has settled on Jersey TechWeek and the question so many sponsors have been asking us these past few days is: ‘same time next year?’
I’m delighted to say the answer is yes. Jersey TechWeek and the Jersey TechAwards will be back in 2019.
See you there!
