Welcome to this week’s edition of the Keystone Column containing business stories and public procurement opportunities that drive the commercial strategy of ambitious companies. This week, we look at stories that illustrate how the future digital landscape will look and what it may mean for EU public procurement opportunities.
Losing ARM
Almost two weeks after UK technology firm ARM Holdings announced that it is to be bought by Japan’s Softbank for £24bn ($32bn), analysis of the sale continues to dominate the business sections of the British press. The Cambridge-based firm designs microchips used in most smartphones, including Apple’s and Samsung’s. Founded in 1990, it employs more than 3,000 people.
Widely regarded as Britain’s best hope of building a global technology giant, the BBC noted it was hard to exaggerate just how important ARM is to the UK tech sector. It described ARM as a genuine world-beater whose brilliance was to realise that if chips were about to come with everything, you didn’t have to make them – designing them was the key.
SoftBank will now invest in the company in an effort to put it in the same category as Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Alibaba, says SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son. “ARM is going to be one of those guys. It will get the respect from the people and the industry at that kind of level,” he said. On strategy, Son said focus could shift to researching microchip designs for IoT technology. “In the next 20 years, the number of chips spread around the Earth will be in excess of one trillion. ARM will have the biggest number of those,” he insisted.
ARM is a company that still has a bright future regardless of its ownership, and much of its high-value activities will remain in the UK. However, its sale has highlighted the challenges even relatively large economies can face in creating, nurturing and retaining global businesses. It is a task policymakers there will no doubt consider for while ARM may have been Britain’s best hope of creating a global tech giant, it will not be its last hope. One also wonders if Ireland’s policymakers might be inspired to consider how Irish entrepreneurs and researchers such as the Collison Brothers might be encouraged and supported in creating the next Stripe in Ireland rather than abroad.
The rise of Augmented Reality and its impact on the digital landscape
The social sensation of 2016 is Nintendo’s Pokémon Go, a free-to-play location-based, augmented reality (AR) game developed for iOS and Android devices. Players use their smart device’s GPS and camera to capture, battle, and train virtual creatures, called Pokémon, who appear on the screen as if they were in the same real-world location as the player. The game has heralded the arrival of AR into mainstream consumer products.
Against a backdrop of falling iPhone sales, Apple chief executive Tim Cook has signalled increased investment in AR. Announcing Apple’s financial results for the second quarter of 2016, Cook spoke of the Pokémon Go phenomenon, saying it shows that augmented reality “can be really great.” He added that Apple itself is “high on AR for the long run, we think there’s great things for customers and a great commercial opportunity.” “We have been and continue to invest a lot in this,” he stated. These trends have implications for the digital landscape.
Mobile operators and phone companies have noted that Pokémon Go is driving changes in phone usage. Rob Smith, CEO of the Leeds-based firm Filtronic noted: “The game encourages people to go out and use the 4G service and they consume data in a different way as the game is permanently on. You have to be connected all the time or you lose all your Pokémon. It’s increasing demand for telecom services!”
It’s not just software and mobile technology firms that stand to benefit – other businesses are beginning to profit from what is already being called “Pokémonomics,” with pubs and restaurants paying to become locations on the Pokémon Go augmented reality app to attract customers into their premises according to the FT.
Pokémon Go may soon be supplanted by another craze, but augmented reality is here to stay and is transforming the digital landscape! EU tenders are issuing already for applications of AR in R&D, learning, construction and related spheres. One to watch.
Innovation – improving our understanding of disease
Genomics Medicine Ireland (GMI) has big ambitions: to transform the quality of life for people with debilitating diseases, including serious chronic and incurable conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Alzheimer’s Disease.
GMI is building what it claims will be the world’s most powerful disease-specific database of population genomics by collecting information from Irish scientists and clinicians (with consenting Irish patients) to curate Irish genetic data. This will create an unprecedented capability to examine the relationship between genetics and disease, allowing it to discover previously unknown genetic factors that increase individual risk of a wide variety of major diseases.
GMI is partnering with leading Irish and international research organisations, pharmaceutical companies, government organisations, and clinical care providers. Only incorporated in 2015, the campus company from UCD is backed already by an impressive list of technology investor groups including ARCH Venture Partners, Polaris Partners, Maveron and Google Ventures. Given the quality of the investors it has attracted, and the potential benefits for disease prevention, GMI is certainly one to watch out for in future.
Note: we are in the sourcing & procurement business. We highlight things we like or that are novel or innovative. Innovators should be encouraged.
New public procurement and digital landscape tenders this week
Visit the Keystone website to view our take on the 500+ active public procurement opportunities with more than five days until their deadline. There is a vast range of services, supplies, and construction related to public procurement opportunities in the following sectors including those with a digital landscape component (there are many more sectors than the sample list below):
- Construction and related trades,
- Professional & Advisory Services,
- PR, Media, Advertising and related,
- ICT supplies and services,
- Training,
- Property & facilities management,
- Vehicle & automotive,
- Catering and related services,
- Cleaning and related services,
- Waste Management,
- Maintenance and related services,
- Horticultural supplies & services,
- Research & environmental monitoring,
- Printing, office supplies and related services,
- Trades,
- Medical and scientific research, supplies and services,
- A vast range of other services and supplies.
Businesses interested in any of these EU public procurement opportunities that are unsure of how they can follow-up on these tenders can contact Keystone at any stage. We would be happy to discuss your needs and where they may fit with your business growth plans. These public procurement opportunities are sources of business growth and innovation for companies across the country. We can also discuss specific applications of the digital landscape and procurement with interested parties.
Keystone E-Tenders Report Open YTD as at 2807 (by date of publication)
Keystone E-Tenders Report Open YTD as at 2807 (by sector)
Please note, e-tenders often has public procurement opportunities incorrectly categorised so people relying on e-tender alerts could easily miss out on opportunities if they are dependent on it. E-tenders is only as reliable as the people inputting tenders and mistakes are made very frequently. The Keystone Column includes all live tenders posted on e-tenders since January 4th, 2016 that have five or more days until their deadline as at July 28th 2016.
