DIGITAL innovation is a non-negotiable for a prosperous future.
That was the consensus among speakers and guests at Digital Jersey’s annual review last week.
The event welcomed those from a range of Jersey’s sectors, local business leaders and special guest speakers, including Sir Geoff Mulgan, the founder of the Institutional Architecture Lab and former chief executive of Nesta, and Viljar Lubi, the Estonian ambassador to the UK.
Digital Jersey chief executive Tony Moretta opened the evening by sharing what 2024 looked like in numbers for the organisation.
He said that 1,500 individuals had been trained through Digital Jersey courses and outreach initiatives, while the organisation had supported 200 corporate members and facilitated the relocation of 16 businesses to Jersey.
“As important as it is to support our home-grown digital sector, growth is important too,” said Mr Moretta. “Part of that is finding people who can add to the local digital sector and develop things to export without competing with people locally.”
Attention quickly turned to 2025, foreshadowing the fact that looking to the future would be a theme of the evening.
Mr Moretta explained that Digital Jersey had “restructured” its focus to revolve around three areas – “building up” and “enhancing” the local digital industry, innovation of the economy and Island, and digital skills in the workforce and education.
Keynote speaker Sir Geoff set the scene of the global landscape, saying: “The new-world order is appearing around us alongside a dramatic reshaping of the digital world.
“This is a complete change from five or ten years ago; it’s a much more chaotic, complex environment, especially with the pace of change.”
He also touched on the UK economy, blaming “stagnant productivity” for its “lack of growth” over the past 15 years.
“Public sector organisations look exactly the same as they did ten years ago, which is a big problem,” he said.
Sir Geoff predicted that the world would only become scarier and more uncertain, so all sectors must become “much more agile”.
“We can be certain that digital strength and prowess is essential to prosperity,” he said.
One of the biggest challenges standing in the way of digital innovation, the panellists and guest speakers agreed, was getting people on board.
Seb Lawson, head of projects at Digital Jersey, chaired a panel which discussed innovation in Jersey, which was described as a “conservative island”.
Michelle Ryan, director at True, suggested that Jersey’s leading industry, finance, had a part to play in that.
“What we have in Jersey is mature, grown-up and sensible with stable regulations. People trust us for those reasons,” she explained, “so stability has been prioritised more than innovation.”
Sir Geoff offered broader commentary, saying: “Most companies are quite resistant to adopting new methods and techniques because it often involves changing how you work and what you do.”
Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel agreed with the sentiment, saying it “worried” him that Jersey “does not like change”.
“When you have a population that is getting older, that desire to accept change or allow risks diminishes, and yet we need to attract young people,” he said.
“How are we going to do that if we have an island that still struggles to accept that people need to take risks? People need to be able to fail.”
Mr Lubi said his experience in Estonia was similar: “Old habits die hard,” he acknowledged. “When anything new and digital is introduced, cut off a legacy service, then deliver what you promised in the service. It needs to be better than the old one, but you need to start from somewhere.”
Communication, road mapping and sequences were the approaches mentioned by the panellists to implementing innovation that resonates with people.
“Research the market problems first and speak to customers before running with an idea,” said Jenny Winspear, co-founder and chief operating officer of MyAnova.
Mr Lawson added that innovators needed to “map the journey” for people.
Speaking to experts in the field in which you want to innovate was, Sir Geoff stressed, also essential.
“That helps you find where you can add value and where you need human judgment. You need those conversations in every field because that’s how you get trust,” he advised. “You get backlash from saying ‘tech is answer’.”
Ms Ryan agreed, adding: “You must have respect for people’s domain expertise – an equal partner is powerful.”
Educating children, added Sir Geoff, was not only key to a thriving and innovative digital sector, but vital for their future prospects too.
“Children aren’t just users of digital but are also makers; they should see tech as something you play with, adjust, adapt, programme.”
He said that this should be the experience of “every child in every school today” if digital was to become a “powerhouse of growth and jobs”.
“Without that, young people will struggle to know how they can navigate through the turbulence of the next few years,” he warned.
The speakers collectively praised the Island for the potential it had to foster innovation and boast an impactful digital sector.
Andrew Scott-Miller, founder of RaceNation and Impact Jersey grantee, said Jersey was the “perfect place” for trying new products.
“You’ve got the access, technology and infrastructure. We’ve got almost every part of global life. Think about how Jersey can get us on that journey,” he said.
Dr Danica Damljanovic, chief executive and founder of Sentient Machines, agreed, noting the benefits the Island’s size could bring compared to its counterparts.
“It’s big enough for things to happen, and Jersey could do things fast if it wanted to,” she said.
“Jersey is able to be agile and try different things and throw them away if they don’t work. I don’t think you have that capability in the UK or other places.”
Following Dr Damljanovic’s point, Ms Ryan said Islanders “underestimated how lucky” they were.
“We forget that we have close access to people who can influence change, and they are all prepared to sit down and listen,” she said.
“We are small but our ability to connect is quite something.”
Mr Lubi highlighted that to get the best out of the Island’s connectivity, the government and private sector must “work together”.
“Assumption is a big thing; we don’t speak the same language,” he shared. “Take time and talk to each other, because you might not understand them either.”
The evening was rounded off with advice from the panellists for business leaders, budding entrepreneurs or tech enthusiasts looking to stay ahead of the curve, with one running theme clear.
“Be brave and embrace change,” said Chris Clark, chief executive of Prosperity 24/7. “Profitable businesses are far more permissive because they’re able to move forward at speed and embrace AI.
“They’re willing to experiment, and they’ve got capacity because they’re profitable.”
Tom Hacquoil, chief executive of Pinpoint, took a tough-love approach in his guidance, saying “everything is hard, but don’t wait for other people to do it for you”.
“If you’re digital and we talk about exports, where you are physically makes no difference. Just get on with it.”
Deputy Morel agreed: “You can’t innovate if you don’t get on with it,” he said, a sentiment with which Mr Lubi concurred, adding: “Ask for forgiveness, not permission.”
DIGITAL innovation is a non-negotiable for a prosperous future.
That was the consensus among speakers and guests at Digital Jersey’s annual review last week.
The event welcomed those from a range of Jersey’s sectors, local business leaders and special guest speakers, including Sir Geoff Mulgan, the founder of the Institutional Architecture Lab and former chief executive of Nesta, and Viljar Lubi, the Estonian ambassador to the UK.
Digital Jersey chief executive Tony Moretta opened the evening by sharing what 2024 looked like in numbers for the organisation.
He said that 1,500 individuals had been trained through Digital Jersey courses and outreach initiatives, while the organisation had supported 200 corporate members and facilitated the relocation of 16 businesses to Jersey.
“As important as it is to support our home-grown digital sector, growth is important too,” said Mr Moretta. “Part of that is finding people who can add to the local digital sector and develop things to export without competing with people locally.”
Attention quickly turned to 2025, foreshadowing the fact that looking to the future would be a theme of the evening.
Mr Moretta explained that Digital Jersey had “restructured” its focus to revolve around three areas – “building up” and “enhancing” the local digital industry, innovation of the economy and Island, and digital skills in the workforce and education.
Keynote speaker Sir Geoff set the scene of the global landscape, saying: “The new-world order is appearing around us alongside a dramatic reshaping of the digital world.
“This is a complete change from five or ten years ago; it’s a much more chaotic, complex environment, especially with the pace of change.”
He also touched on the UK economy, blaming “stagnant productivity” for its “lack of growth” over the past 15 years.
“Public sector organisations look exactly the same as they did ten years ago, which is a big problem,” he said.
Sir Geoff predicted that the world would only become scarier and more uncertain, so all sectors must become “much more agile”.
“We can be certain that digital strength and prowess is essential to prosperity,” he said.
One of the biggest challenges standing in the way of digital innovation, the panellists and guest speakers agreed, was getting people on board.
Seb Lawson, head of projects at Digital Jersey, chaired a panel which discussed innovation in Jersey, which was described as a “conservative island”.
Michelle Ryan, director at True, suggested that Jersey’s leading industry, finance, had a part to play in that.
“What we have in Jersey is mature, grown-up and sensible with stable regulations. People trust us for those reasons,” she explained, “so stability has been prioritised more than innovation.”
Sir Geoff offered broader commentary, saying: “Most companies are quite resistant to adopting new methods and techniques because it often involves changing how you work and what you do.”
Economic Development Minister Kirsten Morel agreed with the sentiment, saying it “worried” him that Jersey “does not like change”.
“When you have a population that is getting older, that desire to accept change or allow risks diminishes, and yet we need to attract young people,” he said.
“How are we going to do that if we have an island that still struggles to accept that people need to take risks? People need to be able to fail.”
Mr Lubi said his experience in Estonia was similar: “Old habits die hard,” he acknowledged. “When anything new and digital is introduced, cut off a legacy service, then deliver what you promised in the service. It needs to be better than the old one, but you need to start from somewhere.”
Communication, road mapping and sequences were the approaches mentioned by the panellists to implementing innovation that resonates with people.
“Research the market problems first and speak to customers before running with an idea,” said Jenny Winspear, co-founder and chief operating officer of MyAnova.
Mr Lawson added that innovators needed to “map the journey” for people.
Speaking to experts in the field in which you want to innovate was, Sir Geoff stressed, also essential.
“That helps you find where you can add value and where you need human judgment. You need those conversations in every field because that’s how you get trust,” he advised. “You get backlash from saying ‘tech is answer’.”
Ms Ryan agreed, adding: “You must have respect for people’s domain expertise – an equal partner is powerful.”
Educating children, added Sir Geoff, was not only key to a thriving and innovative digital sector, but vital for their future prospects too.
“Children aren’t just users of digital but are also makers; they should see tech as something you play with, adjust, adapt, programme.”
He said that this should be the experience of “every child in every school today” if digital was to become a “powerhouse of growth and jobs”.
“Without that, young people will struggle to know how they can navigate through the turbulence of the next few years,” he warned.
The speakers collectively praised the Island for the potential it had to foster innovation and boast an impactful digital sector.
Andrew Scott-Miller, founder of RaceNation and Impact Jersey grantee, said Jersey was the “perfect place” for trying new products.
“You’ve got the access, technology and infrastructure. We’ve got almost every part of global life. Think about how Jersey can get us on that journey,” he said.
Dr Danica Damljanovic, chief executive and founder of Sentient Machines, agreed, noting the benefits the Island’s size could bring compared to its counterparts.
“It’s big enough for things to happen, and Jersey could do things fast if it wanted to,” she said.
“Jersey is able to be agile and try different things and throw them away if they don’t work. I don’t think you have that capability in the UK or other places.”
Following Dr Damljanovic’s point, Ms Ryan said Islanders “underestimated how lucky” they were.
“We forget that we have close access to people who can influence change, and they are all prepared to sit down and listen,” she said.
“We are small but our ability to connect is quite something.”
Mr Lubi highlighted that to get the best out of the Island’s connectivity, the government and private sector must “work together”.
“Assumption is a big thing; we don’t speak the same language,” he shared. “Take time and talk to each other, because you might not understand them either.”
The evening was rounded off with advice from the panellists for business leaders, budding entrepreneurs or tech enthusiasts looking to stay ahead of the curve, with one running theme clear.
“Be brave and embrace change,” said Chris Clark, chief executive of Prosperity 24/7. “Profitable businesses are far more permissive because they’re able to move forward at speed and embrace AI.
“They’re willing to experiment, and they’ve got capacity because they’re profitable.”
Tom Hacquoil, chief executive of Pinpoint, took a tough-love approach in his guidance, saying “everything is hard, but don’t wait for other people to do it for you”.
“If you’re digital and we talk about exports, where you are physically makes no difference. Just get on with it.”
Deputy Morel agreed: “You can’t innovate if you don’t get on with it,” he said, a sentiment with which Mr Lubi concurred, adding: “Ask for forgiveness, not permission.”
