A little after two weeks since Apple became the first US company to be valued at $2tn, the firm’s stock has continued to soar, with its valuation surpassing the rest of the FTSE 100 combined earlier this week.
Much of this has been driven by the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing trend towards working and shopping from home, with Apple one of the biggest winners as a result of such a behaviour shift.
Response to the valuation was mixed however, with at least one widely quoted analyst criticising the FTSE 100 in referring to it as a “dinosaur” and lamenting the absence of innovative tech firms with serious growth prospects.
While the UK may be behind the US (the same analyst was at pains to highlight that while “the US boasts Netflix and Amazon – the FTSE can muster ITV and Sainsbury’s”) as far as the very top of the technology tree goes, there are a number of extremely innovative British SMEs competing against much ‘bigger names’ to roll out some truly pioneering technology offerings during the pandemic.
We are very proud to be working with one such company – Ipsotek, a pioneer in artificial intelligence powered video analytics. Ipsotek is working with companies across a number of different industries, including logistics, retail and transportation, to aid in detecting breaches of social distancing guidelines via its Proximity Detection solution.
The solution is also supporting businesses with contact tracing, enabling quick identification of anyone who might have come into contact with someone later found to have tested positive for COVID-19.
AI has been long heralded as a technology capable of being a major force for good, and as Ipsotek is proving with deployments around the world today that are helping to keep people safe and businesses running, there are UK tech businesses making a significant impact on the global stage.
