TransformBase Official Announcement
Ground-breaking Initiative to Redefine How Businesses Engage With Emerging Technologies Gears up for November Launch.
Entrepreneurs behind Tech City, Level39, and Extreme Tech Challenge unveil the TransformBase Platform and Annual Event.
TransformBase will create and publish five initial roadmaps to support business adoption of emerging tech.
Builds on the momentum of the Government's AI Safety Summit.
Eric Van der Kleij, the visionary behind Canary Wharf’s tech community Level39 and former head of the Tech City (Tech Nation) initiative appointed by David Cameron, has joined forces with Gokce Gizer Clover, who previously led the Extreme Tech Challenge, the largest startup competition of its kind, to launch TransformBase.
TransformBase is a platform for business leaders to improve their understanding of new technologies and how to deploy them within their organisations. TransformBase will initially focus on five key emerging technologies: AI, quantum, immersive (AR/VR), blockchain, and 5G/6G.
Through events and working groups, TransformBase will develop the five technology-specific business roadmaps in collaboration with business leaders, investors, founders, and policymakers. The roadmaps will set out pathways for the integration of emerging technologies by businesses that are aligned with government policy and consider the wider implications for society.
The initiative will build on the outputs from the UK Government’s AI Safety Summit taking place on the 1st and 2nd November at Bletchley Park, but will include a specific focus on the implications of emerging technologies for businesses.
Eric Van der Kleij underscores the urgency of this mission: "In today's landscape, every company is a tech company. Yet, many remain on the sidelines, uncertain of how to seize the transformative power of emerging technologies. TransformBase acts as a catalyst, empowering these enterprises and their investors to steer confidently toward a prosperous and purpose-driven future."
Platform launches at event in November with leaders from tech, business, and government.
TransformBase will launch with its inaugural event on November 9th, 2023, at Kings Place, London, drawing together over 400 business leaders, tech builders and investors, with educators and policymakers. The event is designed to tap into the “collective intelligence” and actively involve all attendees to contribute to delivering actionable business and societal roadmaps.
Leading figures from the worlds of tech, business and government have rallied around this critical mission and will be participating in the event, including:
Lord Dominic Johnson, Minister of State, Department for Business and Trade
Sherry Coutu, angel investor and entrepreneur, Founder of Founders4Schools and
Digital Boost
Nicola McCormick, General Counsel-Media, WPP
Fabrice Beaulieu, Chief Marketing, Sustainability, and Corporate Affairs Officer at Reckitt
Event’s agenda, built on collective intelligence interviews with business leaders and technologists.
The event's agenda blends talks from thought leaders with interactive content, harnessing collective intelligence through active audience participation and has been guided by 30+ interviews with business leaders and technologists. Speaking on the agenda, Gokce Gizer Clover said, “The content and sessions have been designed to engage on five key challenges: integration, security and privacy, change management, cost implications, and scalability.”
Outputs from the event will be refined through quarterly working groups. These groups will craft technology-specific roadmaps, ready for implementation by organisations, and share insights with policymakers and influential global bodies, including the World Economic Forum at Davos in January 2024.
The launch of TransformBase was inspired by Co-Founder Daniel Doll-Steinberg, whose recent book, "Unsupervised," champions increased citizen engagement with emerging technology. He emphasises the urgency of these discussions: "Powerful new technologies are reshaping every aspect of our lives. We must have an open conversation on how to harness their potential for a better society. While forums exist for discussion, what's lacking is a platform for leaders to translate insights into actions. TransformBase is that platform—it not only poses questions but delivers answers."