Member Article

Innovation and Disruption tech event set to return to Leeds

Leeds has once again been chosen as the venue for the Innovation and Disruption event which first took the tech sector by storm in 2017.

The showcase hit the headlines last year, for shaking up the space with its evening-only programme of game-changing technology for business leaders. And it will return to Aspire in the city centre, for the second time, on 18 October 16:00-20:00.

The event is the brainchild of Elland-headquartered digital transformation specialist Vapour Cloud. With title sponsorship from multinational technology giant Avaya, it once again promises to combine hands-on encounters with next generation tech and cutting-edge talks from some of the industry’s most exciting brands in the north.

AI guru Stuart Shearman (IMC) will discuss how artificial intelligence is leveraging new levels of performance in the workplace; Dan Riley (Spearhead) will be demonstrating some of the most exciting and immersive VR experiences currently available; and Vapour’s CEO Tim Mercer will also take to the stage, with a never-publicly-seen look at an innovation set to transform patient experience and access to care within the health service.

Keynote speaker for Innovation and Disruption 2018 is ex Special Forces Officer Wayne Hoyle – a recipient of two commendations from the Queen and an extreme leader who has gone on to walk unsupported to the Geographic North Pole, established a new route on the North Face of Kilimanjaro, and helped raise millions for charity in the process. He will speak to the senior audience about leadership challenges, and the opportunity to instil a team dynamic in even the most difficult situations, with a perhaps unsurprising nod to the role that tech can play.

Commenting on the event’s return for 2018, founder Tim Mercer said: “We took a risk when we launched Innovation and Disruption last year. We picked a great venue and aimed high in the brands we wanted to be there. But the risk paid off with 180 senior decision makers from the north coming to explore how tech could further transform their organisations and their people.

“This year our plans are bolder still. We’ve space for 300 attendees, but sign ups to date mean we’re already at a third of capacity with three months still to go.”

Keen for this to be more than just a networking opportunity, Tim concluded: “Of course we want to put like-minded people in touch with each other – our region is becoming one of the most dynamic places in the UK because of its commitment to tech development, so it’s important that we keep building new connections.

“But I think that away from crowded exhibition halls and stuffy conferences, we need more opportunities to get ‘hands on’ with technology and talk about pushing the realms of what’s possible. It’s only then that digital transformation feels a lot more achievable than organisations perhaps first thought.”

Entry to the event is free, but pre-registration is heavily advised via Eventbrite.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Katie Mallinson .