Thirteen businesses from across the globe faced their industry peers on Thursday at this year’s Isle of Man Innovation Challenge.
The Comis Hotel hosted more than 250 attendees across the day, and saw participants show how they can drive the growth of technical innovation in the island.
Run by the Department for Enterprise's executive agencies, Digital Isle of Man, Business Isle of Man, and Finance Isle of Man, with the support of the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority and UNESCO Biosphere, the initiative aims to help businesses scale up their operations and expand into new markets. Following a rigorous selection process in April, 13 finalists with solutions to some of the island’s pressing technology needs were announced.
They were chosen by an esteemed panel of judges drawn from leading financial, digital, and sustainable businesses in the Isle of Man.
The finalists, hailing from the UK, Denmark, Poland, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, were selected for their ambition and potential.
Over the last six months, they have worked to develop new products that meet a selection of key challenges.
The panel of judges evaluated the presentations based on criteria such as market potential, scalability, and the potential for positive impact on the Isle of Man's technology sector.
And following the presentations, judges announced the winners across the three categories; FinTech, Cleantech and Artificial Intelligence (AI), as well as a special award for recognition of the Biosphere impact.
The winners for the Cleantech category were Re-Universe for their packaging return and reuse system.
Re-Universe helps organisations enable reuse or recycling initiatives and used different models available including deposit return, penalty and rewards alongside RFID track and trace.
Acentrik (Mercedes-Benz) were the winners of the Data and AI category for their leading data exchange solution.
It enables organisations worldwide to unlock and leverage data for new value streams and opportunities.
Umazi were winners of the Fintech category with their solution designed to address challenges related to client data and on-boarding for businesses.
The Biosphere winner was 4Learn for their innovative PLAI software, which offers customised learning solutions in education.
The panel of judges evaluated the presentations based on criteria such as market potential, scalability, and the potential for positive impact on the Isle of Man's technology sector.
The biosphere was also a significant theme throughout the day, with finalists demonstrating how their solutions positively impacted the Island’s UNESCO Biosphere status.
Keynotes also took place from computer scientist and AI expert Professor Sue Black OBE, and data strategist Mike Rose.
Chief Minister Alfred Cannan and Minister for Enterprise Tim Johnston attended, both taking to the stage and offering their support to the finalists and championing innovation.
Mr Johnston said: ‘The Innovation Challenge is all about encouraging and celebrating innovations which are not only sound in concept – but have real-world applications, and real-world benefits which have a positive impact on the communities and industries they serve.
‘The Innovation Challenge is a demonstration of this commitment in practice. Through this initiative, we bring together government, regulatory bodies, and industry leaders in a collaborative effort to nurture technological advancements that are both innovative and eco-conscious, which is key to fulfilling the ambitions of our Island Plan and Economic Strategy.’
Lyle Wraxall, chief executive of Digital Isle of Man, said: ‘This is all about ensuring we’re going out with some of our key themes, FinTech, Cleantech and Artificial Intelligence, all areas we’re looking to grow and that would benefit our business community.
‘It will also benefit the society of the Isle of Man and the government. Those are the three angles we’re looking at.’
‘One of the main reasons for these businesses to come here is that they can get things done here far more quickly and effectively than they can in other places.
‘When we’re talking about innovation you can trial things in the Isle of Man, a small, defined, geographical area with its own political system, and use that to spring board in to the global market.’
The winners in each category will now receive additional promotion and publicity both locally and internationally.
They will also have extended access to the Isle of Man’s marketplace of mentors, potential investors, and customers across various sectors, regulators, and government officers for six months.
