Europe's largest technology festival includes big event programme in London

The latest innovations in drones, artificial intelligence, and robots will feature on the events programme for London Tech Week 2017, which will take place across the UK capital next month (12-16 June). Visitors to Europe’s largest festival of tech will attend events including the Drone Racing League (DRL) Season Finale and The Europas, which will welcome 1,000 European start-ups to the capital. In anticipation of the festival, a 50-second film has been created, designed to spread the message that London is Open to technology talent, investment and innovation from all over the world. The film features scenes including a driverless ‘POD’, Londoners using VR headsets, robots in the workplace and The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, taking the first roboselfie of his Mayoralty. The film also attempts to illustrate how technology is already improving quality of urban life through smarter infrastructure and new approaches to health, fashion and transport. The video is available to view here: Mayor Khan commented: “London is Europe’s leading technology hub. Our talent, diversity, entrepreneurial spirit and global connections put us at the heart of digital technology. London Tech Week 2017 will be a fantastic opportunity to show that London is open to collaboration, innovation and ideas that could change the way that all Londoners live and experience the city.” London is home to 46,000 technology businesses, contributing over 240,000 jobs for the city’s economy, according to Oxford Economics research. Since the UK’s Brexit vote, London-based tech companies have received over £1bn in venture capital investment, according to data sourced by London & Partners. Among global tech companies pledging long-term investment into London is Apple, which announced a new £9bn project to open a London HQ in Battersea; Google announcing a £1bn investment for a new London HQ and Snap Inc. announcing it will open an international hub in the capital Zoe Osmond, festival director for London Tech Week said: “Investors and business leaders are always attracted to London because it’s home to some of the best visionary entrepreneurs and innovators in the world. But with other global cities increasingly looking to compete with London, it is important that we continue to shine a spotlight on London’s global tech offering. With a wide range of events to appeal to different audiences, London Tech Week will bring together investors, entrepreneurs, policy-makers and business leaders to experience London’s strengths in innovation and creativity.” Business and political leaders speaking at events during London Tech Week include former prime minister Gordon Brown, Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO WPP and Nicola Mendelsohn, VP EMEA at Facebook.