Corporate Vision June 2017

CORPORATE VISION / June 2017 7 NEWS , Bob Elfanbaum, co- head of WWT Asyn- chrony Labs, com- ments: “HomePod is not the only indication of voice control’s growing primacy to come out of this year’s Devel- oper Conference. Improvements to Siri are coming in September as part of iOS 11. No company that is currently developing apps – for either consumer or business use – can afford to ignore this. We will soon see iOS apps that don’t include native voice control and messaging as a minimum go the way of the dodo.” Ben Boswell, UK & Ireland Director of World Wide Technology (WWT), which acquired WWT Asynchrony Labs in June 2015, and which is opening an Asynchrony develop- ment lab in London, warns that companies are in danger of miss- ing the turning point on voice-acti- vated technology. Ben says: “Products like Ama- zon’s Alexa have been on the market for a while, and the signifi- cance of Apple’s announcements this year are not that they intro- duce anything especially new. Instead, they signal that the ship will soon have sailed on voice-ac- tivation. “App development is a cut-throat area of digital business, and one in which ease of use is a massive contributor to success. Improve- ments in voice assistants are continuing apace and this is a gift to those companies that can get on board. For companies devel- oping voice for front-end consum- er apps or other business tools, collaborating with an R&D partner is going to be increasingly impor- tant.” For more information about World Wide Technology, visit www.wwt. com. Now in its fifth year, the NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards has celebrat- ed some outstanding entrepreneurs who have gone on to become household names. Previous winners include David Buttress - former CEO of Just Eat, Julie Deane - Founder of The Cambridge Satchel Company, James Watt - Found- er of BrewDog and Alexander Solomou - Founder and CEO of TheLADbible Group. Creator of the Awards, Franc- esca Russell, said: “Having your company branding on a fun, iconic car is a great way of improving your business expo- sure, and we’re thrilled that MINI are giving this opportunity to an entrepreneur again this year.” This November will see award ceremonies held across five UK cities, including London, Cardiff, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh. Last year saw MINI sponsoring the ‘Small Business Entrepre- neur’ category at the awards, and rewarded the winner, Nom Noms World Food, with the use of a new MINI Countryman to help with exposure for their business. Award winners, Lisa Sohanpal and Dr Imrat Sohanpal from Nom Noms World Food, make healthy, internationally-inspired meals for busy families. What’s more, they send a meal to a child in India for every one that is purchased in the UK. It is inspiring stories like these that are celebrated at the NatWest Great British Entrepre- neur Awards, which recognises some of the country’s most impressive entrepreneurs. Lisa says: “The car looks amaz- ing with our branding, and it suits the Nom Noms brand totally. It’s fun, quirky and will certainly grab attention and curiosity on the streets of London. Things like this are so important in assist- ing small businesses to get the exposure they need, and thanks to MINI UK this will definitely help us.” Apple’s Announcements Signal That the Ship Will Soon Sail on Voice-Activated Technology Ian Waspe, Corporate Devel- opment Manager at MINI says: “MINI is a true British icon and we are therefore delighted to be a partner of the NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards for the fourth year in a row, celebrat- ing the very best of British talent.” “The MINI line-up is now com- plete, with five distinct models, that all have the very latest MINI design and technology and we are thrilled to offer a brand- ed Countryman to a budding entrepreneur for six months. This latest, bigger Countryman represents a fantastic opportunity for business with a large boot and lots of space for passengers, as well low CO2 emissions and a high specification which includes navigation. All of this comes with the same distinctiveness and personality that MINI is famous for and we wish all applicants the very best of luck.” The NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards is open for applications and will celebrate entrepreneurship across several categories including Innovation, High Street, Start-Up and Cre- ative Industries. You can enter here: www.greatbritishentrepre- neurawards.com . The NatWest Great British Entre- preneur Awards acknowledges the hard work and inspiring stories of British entrepreneurs and businesses in Great Britain. You can find the details of the 2016 NatWest Great British En- trepreneur Awards winners here. Interviews with judges, winners, partners & sponsors can be arranged upon request. As the announcements fromApple’sWorldwide Developers Conference sink in, developers will seek to unpack the implications of the new technology in a range of settings. Asynchrony Labs, amobility partner of Apple, says that Apple’s HomePod announcement shows the growing importance of voice as a new technology battleground – not only for Apple in competitionwith Amazon and Google, but for app development more widely.