THOUGHT LEADERS
Parminder Lally, associate at IP firm Appleyard Lees, considers what’s to come for Cambridge’s tech scene, from artificial intelligence to artificial meat
his January, I will have been working in Cambridge’s tech sector for 100 months. During
while local AI start-ups will also continue attracting investment and acquisition interest from the global tech giants, demonstrated recently by the acquisition by Apple of Spectral Edge, an image technology company that uses machine learning to improve picture and video quality. So, we can expect an important local contribution to AI growth. I also predict that 2020 will see the number of multi-disciplinary companies grow. Just recently, we learned that AI is more accurate than doctors in diagnosing breast cancer frommammograms. Increased adoption of AI by the life science and biotech sectors is thus expected, including for drug discovery (eg Healx) or to make predictions about treatment response (eg Cambridge Cancer Genomics). I also hope to see synthetic biology and the merging of physics/engineering with the biosciences become more prevalent. Many of us wear smartwatches that collect biometric data, such as heart rate, but maybe this year we will see the launch of wearable devices that contain biosensors to
I imagine companies focused on sustainability will become more important"
this time, I have helped Cambridge- based start-ups, university spin-outs and SMEs that have developed a wide variety of technologies to protect their intellectual property (IP). Some of the technologies have been game-changing, others may have been a little ahead of their time! Many of the companies I have worked with have attracted talent and investment from all over the world, helping Cambridge retain its position as one of the most vibrant and successful tech hubs in Europe. I have learned that new tech comes in waves, following fashions in academia or consumer demands. Here are some tech and IP trends that might turn from ripple to tsunami in 2020. My first prediction will come as no surprise to most: the development of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques and the applications of AI will continue to advance at breakneck speed. The commercial importance of AI is evidenced by its increased patent protection; it was recently reported in WIPO Technology Trends 2019 that nearly half (around 170,000) of patent applications for AI- related inventions have been published since 2013. Two of the four largest AI patent filers, Microsoft and Samsung, have research teams in Cambridge,
measure, in real time, organic compounds or bacteria. Climate change poses a serious threat to the environment, so I imagine green start-ups and companies focused on sustainability will become more important this year. In the last decade, European patent applications relating to self-driving vehicles (SDVs) – considered more environmentally friendly – outstripped the baseline growth across all technologies twentyfold. Perhaps surprisingly, the top four applicants were not car companies, but multi-disciplinary companies Samsung, Intel, Qualcomm and LG. SDVs continue to attract interest, but so do companies developing new, environmentally friendly materials or improved techniques for recycling plastics. In January, many are trying to eat less meat or go vegan, either for health or environmental reasons. As the appetite for meat substitutes grows, companies developing plant-based meat substitutes or synthetic meat will attract more interest. Generally, the agritech sector will continue developing techniques to ensure yields match the demands of the burgeoning global population. I suspect we will see wider adoption of ‘smart farms’ that use IoT technologies, robots and AI for precision farming. How about you – do you agree or disagree with my tech trend predictions, or have any of your own? Tweet @CambsCatalyst to join the conversation.
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ISSUE 05
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