business & innovation

In Chinwag's recent Digital Mission survey looking at which global opportunities were tempting the UK's digital firms, Germany featured 4th on the list.

Update: Panel line-up and Berline startups announced. Just one travel bursary left. See below.

For those digital firms interested in this market, Creative Industries KTN (CIKTN) and Berlin Brandenburg Medianet have announced a one-day session in Berlin to introduce firms to the local market, meeting with startups and local businesses who will provide mentoring support.

So we are back at the Chinwag towers after a great Digital Mission to Washington, and I’ve found myself reflecting on the goings on of the past week, who we met, what we saw, where we went and what we came away with. I think it is safe to say the trip was a huge success and we caused just the right amount of havoc.

I am going to try and fit in the weeks activities into one blog post…wish me luck.

Following on from our recent post 'Digital Mission: The Story So Far, Future Plans, New Initiatives', for the past few months, we've been busy gathering information from as many of our Digital Mission Alumni as possible, asking how they've been getting on since their first Mission.

As previously mentioned, we're big infographic fans here at Chinwag.  So much so, that we decided to create our own based on our findings.

Combined with a few Digital Mission facts and figures, and some of the results of our survey earlier this year, there's some very interesting and impressive findings, if we do say so ourselves!

During my dreary morning commute this morning, I was flicking through the Metro only to stumble across a feature including UKTI Mission to SXSW Alumni, ParcelGenie.

The recently announced Digital Mission Observer Programme launched this week, with the trip to Washington, DC. The programme was designed specifically to offer opportunities for staff in larger corporates, professional services firms and academia a chance to benefit from the Digital Mission series.

Amongst the observers joining the DC trip is Louise Eldridge (@fieldhead) from London law firm, Finers Stephens Innocent LLP. She said,

"We're excited to be part of the mission and the observer programme affords both companies and individuals the opportunity to engage with the companies selected and learn about their drivers and to better understand how to help facilitate their growth".

The agenda includes a mixture of briefings, masterclass, speed networking, VIP reception and evening events with the US Dept of State, Microsoft, Deloitte, the State of Maryland with more to be announced shortly. Across the week-long trip there'll be opportunities to meet representatives from across the spectrum of the DC digital and governmental scene from departments to NGOs to startups and social innovators.

Woah there. Run that past me again? Yup, you read it right. Travel and listings publisher, Time Out, announced a staggering 6,000% increase in the number of downloads of their travel apps after going free.

"In June, Time Out has made the decision to make all travel apps free for the foreseeable future – a move which saw the average weekly download per app jump from 140 downloads a week to over 8000, a rise of a staggering 6000%"

So Google and Facebook really seem to be going head to head.  Google does not send people to Facebook and vice versa.

I am sure we remember that back in May, Facebook was discovered to be guilty of hiring a PR firm principally to tar Google’s reputation in regards to their privacy policies.  However, Facebook themselves really aren't any better!  They have been caught red-handed using personal data in inappropriate ways.  All you need to do is read their Terms to find out how blasé they are with some of our most personal information. 

Here are some of the more interesting ones I found –