Business

Big tech names set for Digital DNA

Pictured at St George's Market ahead of Digital DNA are, right, Simon Bailie, commercial director of Digital DNA, and, left, Seamus Cushley, director of Blockchain, FinTech and Innovation at PwC.
Pictured at St George's Market ahead of Digital DNA are, right, Simon Bailie, commercial director of Digital DNA, and, left, Seamus Cushley, director of Blockchain, FinTech and Innovation at PwC. Pictured at St George's Market ahead of Digital DNA are, right, Simon Bailie, commercial director of Digital DNA, and, left, Seamus Cushley, director of Blockchain, FinTech and Innovation at PwC.

SOME of the biggest names in tech are convening on Belfast this week for Digital DNA 2018.

Leo Johnson, Jamie Bartlett, Quinn Buchanan, Rock Jacobs, Dr Liberty Vittert and Dan Kiely will join representatives from Facebook, Microsoft and Virgin Media as well as some of Northern Ireland’s most innovative technology leaders for the two-day event held in St George’s Market. Beginning tomorrow, they will deliver keynote speeches, take part in panel discussions, workshops and fireside chats to an audience which originates from across the technology sector.

One of stars of BBC's The Apprentice series, Joanna Jarjue is also among the high-profile speakers at the event. She

will explain how she moved from a digital marketing role - where she worked on behalf of Google - to The Apprentice boardroom to setting up her own woman’s workwear business.

Although Joanna didn’t win investment from Lord Sugar, she is planning to launch her company later this year which will manufacture and retail her own brand.

“Women’s workwear is really neglected,” she said. “They find it hard to find the right clothes which are affordable for all, particularly for millennials which is my target market.”

Digital marketing will be at the heart of the business’s strategy.

“There are so many different digital strategies to consider. You have to make sure you are catering to your audience because it is not a once size fits all and you really need to understand the person you’re selling to.

“My brand will be targeted at millennials so I will be using video, thought leadership and other digital marketing means to get my message out there.”

Other speakers at Digital DNA include: Noga Tal, head of global strategic initiatives for startups at Microsoft; Aoife Caulfield, emerging client solutions UK & Europe at Twitter; Rioch Edwards-Brown, founder of So You Wanna Be in TV; Naomi Timperley, director at Tech North Advocates; Sarah Hooper, CRM director at Edit; Mike Barrett, founder and CEO of Unosquare; Henry Helgeson, founder and CEO of Cayan; Kieran Flanagan, VP of marketing at Hubspot.