We are investing £2.3 million into the business, through Research and Development (R&D), skills development, and the creation of 18 jobs. 

We are pleased to announce this investment today and that Datactics has been selected as a Platinum Partner for R&D by Invest Northern Ireland. Our Machine Learning Group led by Fiona Browne spends its time looking at the practical applications of Machine Learning in relation to data preparation, data quality, and matching. Our aim is to uncover real-world business benefits of this exciting technology that will reduce the manual effort in improving data quality and increase accuracy with regards to matching which we then make available to our RegTech, FinTech, and GovTech clients via the Datactics platform. 

At Datactics, we have incredibly strong senior leaders, managers and team leads. A few of them wanted to share their thoughts on the brilliant news: 

 “Invest Northern Ireland’s ongoing support has been fundamental in helping us get to where we are today. The R&D project will use ML to develop new analytics functionalities for our Datactics Data Quality platform. Invest NI’s in-market teams have given us great advice on how to expand in GB and the US, and to enter new markets like Japan and Singapore. By creating 18 jobs, investing in technical, digital and sales skills, and with our new Data Academy for graduates, we will be able to expand our team’s capacity and expertise to secure new sales in these markets.” 

Stuart Harvey, CEO

“Businesses thrive with AI. It can automate financial forecasting, giving them greater visibility of their future finances and in turn empowering business owners to make better decisions and take actions to achieve their ultimate goals. At Datactics we are proud to be augmenting our data quality platform with fully explainable AI and Machine Learning, removing the risk of being unable to tell why a model has behaved in a particular way. Research and Development by Datactics echoes strongly with Gartner’s view of an augmented data quality future, something we’re seeing more demand for from our clients – whether for example in AI-powered entity matching, or in the inferring of data quality rules in intelligent data discovery.” 

Dr. Fiona Browne, Head of Sofware Development and Machine Learning

“Working with Invest NI to support our business ambitions helps us to accelerate our development, recruit additional key people, and play our part in an ever-expanding Northern Ireland tech ecosystem. Securing funding is just one way in which Invest NI is benefitting our fast-growing business.” 

David Steele, Head of Finance

“We’re very excited about the prospect of our forthcoming Data Academy, one of the initiatives being supported by this funding from Invest Northern Ireland. Belfast is seeing strong growth in the tech jobs market, and Datactics’ partners in the universities and further education colleges are helping us to secure talented people who are well-aligned to our company values of Ambition, Passion, and Integrity”. 

Elspeth Flenley, HR and Corporate Communications Manager: 

You can read more about this incredible news in the full piece written by Invest NI here. 

The post Thoughts from the team on our exciting Investment and R&D news appeared first on Datactics.

Belfast Fintech company Datactics is investing £2.3million in its business, through Research and Development (R&D), skills development and the creation of 18 jobs. 

The Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) spinout provides data quality solutions to the financial services sector and central government, using its Datactics Data Quality platform to rapidly measure, match, report and fix data assets.

Once all are in place, the 18 roles will contribute over £700,000 of additional annual salaries to our local economy.

George McKinney, Director of Technology and Services, Invest NI

Stuart Harvey, CEO of Datactics, said: “We’ve seen increasing demand for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) across the Fintech and Regtech sectors. We’re using this £2.3million investment to take advantage of this growth opportunity which will help us to increase our visibility on the global stage by expanding our team, innovating and driving export growth.

“Invest Northern Ireland’s ongoing support has been fundamental in helping us get to where we are today. The R&D project will use ML to develop new analytics functionalities for our Datactics Data Quality platform. Invest NI’s in-market teams have given us great advice on how to expand in GB and the US, and to enter new markets like Japan and Singapore. By creating 18 jobs, investing in technical, digital and sales skills, and with our new Data Academy for graduates, we will be able to expand our team’s capacity and expertise to secure new sales in these markets.”

Invest NI has offered Datactics £347,601 of support towards the creation of the 18 jobs, R&D and skills development. Job opportunities include software and AI developers, support engineers, and sales and management positions. Five of the roles are in place.

Datactics has also undertaken a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with QUB to extend the capabilities of its data quality applications and develop new knowledge-driven analytics.

Invest NI’s in-market teams have given us great advice on how to expand in GB and the US, and to enter new markets like Japan and Singapore. 

Stuart Harvey, CEO, Datactics

George McKinney, Director of Technology and Services, said: “Thanks to our dynamic Fintech cluster, Northern Ireland is leading the way in international financial services solutions. As we have continually supported its business journey over the years, I have enjoyed watching Datactics grow and succeed in this sector.

Read the full piece written by Invest NI here.

The post Datactics invests over £2m with plans to grow exports and create 18 jobs appeared first on Datactics.

New office marks the latest chapter in Datactics’ rapid growth story, following hot on the heels of its recent £2m investment round led by Par Equity.  

Fast-growing Data Quality software specialists Datactics welcomed Simon Hamilton, CEO of Belfast Chamber of Commerce, to open its latest office at One Lanyon Quay, tripling its office space in the landmark building. The new facility will house the tech firm’s Client Services arm supporting Datactics’ global customer base across financial services and the public sector.  

“It’s great to be expanding our space for our staff here in the centre of Belfast,” said Datactics CEO, Stuart Harvey. “Northern Ireland has become an internationally recognised FinTech and RegTech centre of excellence, and we are glad to be working together as a team and growing our staff numbers. We are seeing benefits for our clients and staff as we collaborate and share in the extended and more spacious office.” 

Hamilton has returned to open a new Datactics office for the first time since 2016, when the then 10-strong software firm first moved out of the Titanic Quarter’s Science Park. Now numbering nearly 60 employees, Datactics has built this growth on strong financial performance, which saw it ranked the 17^th fastest growing tech firm in Deloitte Ireland’s Fast50 in 2020. 

“Belfast Chamber is delighted to see an excellent, homegrown business like Datactics expanding its footprint in the city,” said Hamilton. “In these uncertain times, it is reassuring that businesses continue to invest in Belfast and view our city as the ideal place to grow.  At the beginning of the pandemic, many were quick to jump to a conclusion that the office was dead. Whilst working practices may indeed change, having such a great space for the Datactics team to innovate and collaborate here in the heart of Belfast is brilliant to see.  Belfast Chamber strongly believes that Belfast has a bright future as a tech city.  Businesses like Datactics are at the centre of our city’s economic renewal and I wish Stuart and the team all the best as they continue to grow.” 

About Datactics – Datactics specialises in self-service data quality and matching software designed for non-technical business users in financial services firms. The platform helps to eliminate roadblocks common in data management where firms are overly reliant on IT to interpret and hard-code rules into core systems.  

Solutions ensure compliance with data-driven financial regulations; deliver a true “single customer view”; and increase the accuracy, and reduce the cost, of AML & KYC functions.   

About Belfast Chamber – Belfast Chamber has been the voice for business in the city since its inception in 1912. It represents over 500 businesses of all sizes, in all sectors and in all parts of Belfast, focusing on lobbying for, connecting, celebrating and supporting all businesses within the entire city of Belfast.  

The post Datactics unveils new dedicated Client Services hub as Belfast gets “back to business.” appeared first on Datactics.

It’s Friday…this week was a phenomenally busy one! 

We attended the Global InsurTech Summit 2021, which took place this week from Tuesday to Thursday.

Throughout the 3-day summit, we got to engage with many keynotes, talks and presentations delivered and hosted by experts within the InsurTech industry. It was interesting to unpack what the pain points are within the industry and how processes are changing. 

The virtual summit began with an outlook for insurance technology, followed by presentations on top technologies disrupting the insurance industry, innovations in insurance, and then an exploration into customer expectations. 

On that point, anyone wanting to learn about Datactics’ capabilities within the insurance market feel free to get in touch with Kieran Buchanan.

He will be more than happy to explore how we can be of assistance with our award-winning technology especially in the areas of Data Quality and Matching. One key takeaway of the summit was that “Data quality is imperative within the insurance world, with an increase in fraud across the industry, a shift towards prioritising the end customers’ needs and carriers being forced to reimagine business processes.” We at Datactics provide the technology and the know-how to help bring full confidence to your data quality. Datactics won the Data Quality Analysis Tool award from A-Team Group for the second year running in 2020, adding three major Tier 1 financial clients in New York, Amsterdam and London last year. 

3 ideas to get your people excited about your data! 

This week we also have released a new blog post entitled ‘3 ideas to get your people excited about your data’. We found a great stat that 59 zetabytes of data has been captured, created, copied and consumed worldwide since 2010 (according to Statista) and as result it’s easy to see the problems that arise when even a fraction of that data is incorrect. We curated a blog post designed to help energise, excite and encourage your data people in not one, not two but three ways that are highly easy-to-implement and are guaranteed to help deliver your next data management programme (and truly change your data culture). The tips we established are: 

1. You don’t need to rip and replace your expensive data stack 
2. Boil a kettle, not an ocean 
3. Unleash the power of a fully self-service system 

Do you want to read more and find out exactly what we mean? Read our full blog post here. 

If you would like to continue on the thought thread of rethinking your data quality and make a huge difference to your organisation, you can reach out to the author of this blog post, Matt Flenley on LinkedIn. He would be delighted to continue this conversation. 

To learn more about how how Self-Service Data Quality is the best approach to developing a next-gen data management strategy, check out our webinar from 2020 with key input from CTO, Alex Brown (or read a blog post version here). 

A Trip down memory lane: Video Game Edition 

We thought we would wrap up this blog post with a bit of nostalgia. We recently asked our entire team to name a video game that reminded them of their youth! We received a plethora of responses… with some solid favourites. We would love to get your involved in our DatacticsChat, tell us, what was your favourite video game when you were younger? Will you admit to playing it, or can you even remember it?! 

For more on The Global InsurTech Summit, Data Quality or just a trip down memory lane, find us on Linkedin, Twitter or Facebook for the latest news. 

The post Weekly round-up: from Global InsurTech Summit to getting your people excited about data! appeared first on Datactics.

The Future of InsurTech will feature leaders and companies from the world of technology, Fintech and insurance on how the InsurTech industry is evolving and innovating to adapt to the changing world around us, including the impact of driverless cars and more connected devices will have on our lives. 

Advancements in technology and computing power have transformed many traditional industries. Like banking and financial services, the insurance industry is being disrupted by traditional companies and startups alike. Billions of investment dollars are now flowing into the sector and consumers are now able to access new and more efficient products.

Registration and agenda are available here

Click here for more by Datactics, or find us on Linkedin, Twitter or Facebook for the latest news. 

The post The Future of InsurTech – Digital DNA | 28/04 appeared first on Datactics.

We sat down and chatted to them all about their experience in technology so far, their apprenticeship, the skills they have been acquiring and of course, their experience working within the team at Datactics. 

We really enjoyed getting to know our apprentices more and we are thrilled they are with us! 

Hi both, I’d be really keen to hear how you both found your feet in your course; how did you get into technology? 

Natalie: I began in a completely different industry! I was working in Insurance and I decided that I wanted to change the direction of my career. Shortly after this, I saw an ad on social media for an IT Belfast Met apprenticeship split between Networking, Infrastructure and Software Development; I still wasn’t sure which path I wanted to take but I knew that I had a passion for tech support, so I applied. Upon passing, I was then able to apply for various companies that were taking part in the Apprentice scheme; this led me to Datactics. I am now thrilled to be a part of the team! 

Victoria: My story is similar to Natalie. I completed my degree in Counselling and was working in a call centre. I wanted to initially gain experience in my degree field with the intention of pursuing a career in Mental Health. Due to the pandemic, I decided to change my career direction as I wanted to pursue a career in technology. I then came across the application for the apprenticeship and the rest is history! 

What excites you about a career in IT? 

Natalie: I find technology a constantly evolving sector, I think now more than ever there is a strong need for vigilance within the sector. Game development has always sparked an interest for me, and I would love to pursue this on the side. 

Victoria: I think Technology has always been so interesting and seeing the changes in past number of years has made it even more exciting. It has become a central part of life, as everybody runs some sort of operating system on a device! In school I wasn’t as engaged with IT, but when I saw the apprenticeship that will equate to A Levels without having to sit through school, I jumped at the chance. 

Could you tell me more about the course itself? 

Victoria: Our course is Level 3 Networking and Infrastructure; it is an OCR qualification that is equivalent to two A Levels. At the minute we are focusing on the basics of networking, we have just completed a 6-week bootcamp and now we have started our course. We have had been getting great experience so far within Datactics in areas like user support and administration. 

Natalie: I agree with Victoria, we have had the opportunity to do hands-on work here at Datactics, the theory is interesting but being able to put it into practice has helped me develop my skills a lot faster. 

Brilliant! How have you guys found settling into Datactics so far? 

Victoria: Datactics is a great company. The people really make it! The workload is also really fair and there are a lot of opportunities to ask questions which is vital for us as apprentices! I also think Datactics is great for allowing you to take the time to undertake your own learning and the management team is always on hand to answer any queries! 

Natalie: During the hiring process I was told that Datactics goes out of its way to ensure they are hiring people from all walks of life. I too  think Datactics really pushes women to the front, they have forward-thinking approaches to progression and they have created a very supportive working environment.  

Amazing! So how long does the apprenticeship go on for? What’s the timescale? 

Natalie: The apprenticeship lasts for just over a year and a half. We do all our class units, then we have work-based learning units. Our assessor meets with us monthly to talk through progression, target deadlines and performance.  

Would you both say that, prior to starting this apprenticeship, you didn’t have any Tech experience? 

Victoria: I had virtually zero real-life tech experience. It’s been a real drop in the deep end, but I have been given great support, so I am not floundering! Dave (Brown) and Paddy (Donnelly) have been brilliant mentors. 

Natalie: I have taken a few smaller courses in my own time in web design, HTML and Python but I had zero commercial experience in tech prior to entering this apprenticeship. 

Apprenticeships really are for everyone! Aren’t they? 

Natalie: Our class would have a big age-range within it. Recently we had a remote call with our classmates, and upon being asked, ‘Why have you opted for this apprenticeship?’, the majority of people stated it was due to wanting a career change.  

Victoria: There are so many apprenticeships available through Belfast Met, whatever age you are or whatever stage you are at in your career – it’s never too late to consider a change! 

That’s great. So, what happens after the apprenticeship? 

Natalie: Upon completion of the apprenticeship, the option is available for you to go on and complete a foundation degree, or else wrap up and take the qualification.  

Victoria: My plans are to continue working away and building my skills, but I would consider doing another Level 6 qualification. There is also the option to do another apprenticeship in another subject area.  

Thanks so much to both of our amazing apprentices for taking the time to sit down and discuss their apprenticeships to date and how they have been settling in! We hope you have enjoyed reading. 

Read more about our people here, explore our open vacancies, or if you’re curious about working at Datactics please drop me a line on LinkedIn for a chat. 

The post National Apprenticeship week appeared first on Datactics.

In January 2021, our very own Marketing Manager, Matt Flenley spoke to Georgia Halston of Halston Marketing, to unpack the power of collaboration and community. In this piece, Matt discusses the recent triumphs and the strategies that he deems as critical to remaining resilient, and relevant to both existing and new customers throughout 2021 and beyond.

I think the biggest thing we’ve noticed is a renewed focus on communication. This goes for how we’ve communicated and collaborated internally as a team, and how we’ve been keeping in touch with our community, customers, partners, and those lovely people who are almost customers but not quite yet! 

Keep in touch meetings were born!

Keeping in touch is quite a good phrase for this, actually, as we’ve had a stronger cross-company set of conversations over Zoom, branded as “Keep in Touch”, ensuring the whole team are aligned on business priorities from the newest team member to the CEO. These have been genuinely collaborative and supportive, making the internal marketing journey equally as important as the external one. We’ve worked hard on internal branding of newsletters, too, to help people feel more connected and involved. 

Communication is vital

 Of course, for a tech company usually spending its time across the northern hemisphere, actually being in countries has been made impossible since March of last year. We’d usually have people on the ground in New York one week, and Amsterdam the next, and so we’ve been talking to our event partners about how we can redistribute physical event spend into digital and virtual opportunities instead. Again, communication has been key here, looking to come up with mutually beneficial ways of keeping pre-Covid sponsorship monies assigned to events but ensuring that they return what we need in terms of market visibility, thought leadership, and lead generation.

Check out this virtual keynote delivered by Kieran Seaward, our Head of Sales, when previously we’d have settled for just an exhibition stand.  

Sustaining economic growth is crucial

In the same spirit we reached out to local event companies to offer our help in coordinating segments of agendas and bringing along people we knew could help build their audiences through keynote appearances, for example, contributing to AI Con 2020. We recognise that it’s a really challenging time to be working, but ultimately it’s about getting there together and sustaining economic growth through collaboration, and all of that can be kicked off with an email or a phone call to ask “how can we help both of us to get what we want?”

What have we, at Datactics, been doing at a community level?

At a community level, we have had a long-standing relationship with Rosetta Primary School, a half-hour’s walk up the road from us here in Belfast. We’d usually go in and help with one-to-one reading, or developing numeracy and relational language through play with Lego, but clearly that had to change for the Autumn term 2020.

Instead, we used our volunteer time in the Marketing team, working with the school to develop an online Nativity which premiered just before the Christmas holidays; one of our team, who is part-way through his final year of a Marketing degree, also put together a virtual tour of the school to help them with their admissions for 2021.

These have been fulfilling projects that have helped with morale just as much as they’ve supported practical needs in the community.

Video, podcasts, keynotes? All and more!

Lastly, we’ve said “yes please!” to an increasing number of opportunities to do video, podcast, keynotes – you name it. Our brand has grown significantly as our team has made themselves available for these opportunities, often at short notice, for example Dr. Fiona Browne, Head of AI’s contribution to an episode of FinTech Finance focussed on AML and tech.

Training, training, training

I say lastly – but alongside all of this, we’ve been working increasingly closely with our Sales team to better integrate all our campaign activity. We’ve taken on some external training on this front and not just assumed we can do it all ourselves! Sometimes you need someone else to hold your feet to the fire to really make critical business-growing decisions and grow.

Thanks again to Halston Marketing for reaching out to us – we have thoroughly enjoyed engaging with the wonderful team. We don’t want this conversation to stop here, so if you’d like to reach out to Matt Flenley to hear about all things marketing, our partnerships, or what Datactics can do for you, connect with him on LinkedIn.

The post The Power of Collaboration and Community, in the words of Matt Flenley appeared first on Datactics.

In partnership with specialist trainers Grand Scale, the firm has been using Hubflow’s large meeting space at the Dublin Road facility to plan activities for the new year.

“This training is extremely timely for us,” said Kieran Seaward, Head of Sales:

Declan Mellan, Managing Director of Hubflow, said that their Dublin Road space is set up to support businesses and the types of business-critical activities that will help the economy recover quickly from the damage of COVID.

About Datactics

Datactics specialises in self-service data quality and matching software designed for non-technical business users in financial services firms. The platform helps to eliminate roadblocks common in data management where firms are overly reliant on IT to interpret and hard-code rules into core systems. Solutions ensure compliance with data-driven financial regulations; deliver a true “single customer view”; and increase the accuracy, and reduce the cost, of AML & KYC functions.

About Hubflow:

A provider of flexible coworking space & virtual office solutions, offering a hassle-free, dynamic coworking environment with competitive pricing packages, membership flexibility, super-fast Wi-Fi & full business support

The post Gearing up for 2021: Datactics gets a head start thanks to Hubflow’s collaboration space appeared first on Datactics.

Stuart Harvey, CEO at Datactics recently contributed to the Belfast International Homecoming, which this year was held virtually. Stuart was joined by Camilla Long, Career Encode; Seamus Cushley, Bazaarvoice; and Kevin Cunningham of MRP Prelytix. The panel itself was chaired by Jayne Brady, Digital Innovation Commissioner and aimed to discuss the question: Can Belfast’s Technology Companies Lead an Inclusive Recovery?  

Here are some of the key themes that were discussed during the panel.

23% of jobs advertised in NI last year were digital technological roles

Last week, TechNation released statistics indicating that 23% of all the jobs advertised in Northern Ireland in 2019 were digital technology roles. This is the highest in the UK alongside Cambridge. The statistics show just how foundational the role of digital technology is for Northern Ireland and the opportunity it can give for recovery.  

How exactly can Belfast Tech companies lead the inclusive recovery?   

There has been a vast change in the way organisations must work

Amid COVID-19, there has been a huge change in the way organisations have had to work with remote working becoming more and more pertinent. Stuart took the opportunity to highlight the agility that is instilled within the team at Datactics. After an extended period of working remotely during lockdown, the decision was taken to return on a 50/50 rotation with the potential for more office space to be acquired. The buy-in from staff to collaborate in the office and balance with remote working helped prompt the agile approach to navigating working in these times. “For Datactics, agility and flexibility have been the key to this growth” added Stuart. “We had work lined up from before Covid-19, so when the pandemic hit, we still had a great focus.” This focus on agility and flexibility  has enabled the growth of our team during these testing times.  

Diversity is key to the development of technology

Stuart also spoke about the diversity and inclusion strategy that Datactics has in place. There are 13 nationalities in the company with 25 different languages spoken; in terms of gender within the company, 40% of the workforce identify themselves as female; several of whom work in senior roles. In terms of age, the range is 18-65+ and there is diversity in the education background from traditional Russell Group institutions such as Oxford, Cambridge and Queen’s, through to Belfast Met and the Open University. Stuart commented, “At Datactics we have made good use of programmes such as Erasmus, where people have come over to work with us and have really enjoyed Belfast, the company, and have later stayed with us. We are lucky to have several staff in senior positions who have done this and are proud to have a variety of talent within the company from many corners of the world”.  

Stuart reiterated that hard work, flexibility, and a hunger to learn are key attributes of the team. These chime with the core values of the company, of ambition, passion, and integrity, and Datactics actively seeks to embed these values into the culture from the top down.  

Datactics has hired two female apprentices from Belfast Met

Stuart mentioned that Datactics has recently been engaging with Belfast Met. The 2nd November marked the first day for two new female apprentices who are entering the DevOps team. These apprentices will balance their work with studies at Belfast Met. Datactics have also had a long-standing engagement with the Open University, where according to Stuart, “…we have several members of the team from OU, that have potentially entered back into education slightly later”. Working with Datactics has allowed these students to earn while they learn.   

Education is vital – but not simply the “right” education

In a sector such as software and technology that is in high demand for new recruits, there is a very interesting question surrounding pathways of education. Stuart addressed this by stating it is crucial to engage with people from all different educational backgrounds. “To focus on applicants with the highest grades or applicants that have attended no less than a Russell Group University will lead to the sharp end of a real shortage. We engage with applicants and talent from a variety of educational backgrounds and  are just out there seeking to engage with as wide a range of people as we can.” It might be a longer process to be so thorough, meet every candidate, and assess their capabilities, but it has been proven to deliver outstanding employees who have helped power Datactics’ rapid growth. 

If you missed this session, you can watch it back here.

You can also read more about Datactics and the work we have been doing to grow our team, enhance diversity strategy and continue to scale, check out our website here. You can also read our latest Datablog updates and whitepapers.

The post Can Belfast’s technology companies lead an inclusive recovery? appeared first on Datactics.

Hi Sean! Perhaps as we begin, you could tell me a bit about how you got into your role, what was your educational background? 

I studied Computer Science at Queens University Belfast. Naturally, when I graduated, I wanted a role in the IT field. After having a job for 2 years, I then decided to go travelling and then upon my return, I began looking for a new job. This was in 2008, so with the recession being in full flow, it was a difficult time economically to secure a role. I did, however, discover Datactics by sheer chance. I came across the role in the Belfast Telegraph, applied for it, and then managed to secure the role – and I’ve been in the data analysis field ever since! 

That is amazing, what initially attracted you to the world of technology? 

It was very much a tactical move because prior to studying computer science at University I didn’t have any experience in computers, despite having an interest in computers from a young age. I chose computer science because I thought it would a good career move. At the time, computer science was becoming a big thing for Belfast, and as we know, Belfast is very much now a FinTech & RegTech hub.  

Looking back, I chose to study Computer Science as I felt it broadened my career prospects and in retrospect. I am glad that I made that choice.  

Sean, as you have been in your role for a decade, could you tell me a bit about your biggest passions in your career and beyond? 

I enjoy working in a small company because there is the ability to try new things and each week/month/year can look very different. There is no set pattern which means you are constantly learning new things. I have been stimulated by having to strive to keep up with customer demands and as Datactics has stepped into new industries, I have had the opportunity to work on a vast variety of projects. 

Recently I have been working with an amazing group of clients; being able to see the client’s needs being understood and met is a big source of satisfaction for me. 

What is the biggest shift you’ve seen in the industry and indeed the company? 

I have worked with Datactics across many different industries and data domains. Within the company there has been a shift, the workforce has tripled since I started, and it has been growing in all levels ever since. There has been a change in the workplace environment, a sharper focus on different key areas and a lot more opportunities for career development. The colleagues I work with make it both an exciting and aspirational place to work. 

What makes you so passionate about your projects, Sean? 

In the Government Technology (“GovTech”) role that I am currently involved with, I am finding that as well as it being technically challenging, the work has real world and moral implications meaning it is doing good for society. This type of work that I am doing has the power to impact nationwide plans – and beyond. One of the key things that I love about Datactics is working on projects that are challenging and ultimately, that the benefits are real. There are real-world impacts and that is what keeps me passionate about delivering the best results to our clients and its customers.  

Sean, you’ve been at Datactics for 12 years, what do you enjoy most about it? 

The continually evolving nature of the role is great but also increasingly challenging. I do, however, love working with the wider team as there is so much talent spread throughout the entire company. The ‘small company’ feel has also been maintained despite substantial growth over the past number of years. One of the best points of working for a Fintech such as Datactics is that your efforts are noticed. In a larger firm, my experience has been that you can often feel like a small cog in a big wheel. In a company this size, I must say that if you do something great it will be noticed but the same happens if you do something wrong too! It drives you on to do the best you can for your colleagues and the company as a whole. This is part of the close-knit territory that comes with working in an innovative firm. I hope that this culture stays within the company ethos and as the company grows from strength to strength, that the camaraderie we all know, and love will stay intact.  Here’s to the next 12! 

Thanks, Sean, for taking the time to chat with us. It was great to be able to hear about your passions and your career journey to date.  We look forward to hearing more from you about all things GovTech very soon. 

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The post The colleagues I work with make it both an exciting and aspirational place to work” – Meet Sean, part of the “Our Team” series appeared first on Datactics.

We might not currently be able to travel as widely as we’re used to, but we’re always glad to be a part of what makes Belfast such an inviting place to call home.

Stuart Harvey, our CEO, engaged in a panel discussion alongside Camila Long at Beespoke Communications, Seamus Cushley at Bazaarvoice and Kevin Cunningham from MRP, moderated by Jayne Brady from Belfast City Council.

During Tech’s Time session, the panel discussed the topic: “can Belfast’s technology companies lead an inclusive recovery?“

Talking about the education setting and ecosystem, Stuart said:

Education and inclusion is a really interesting subject. We’re engaging with Belfast Met and The Open University, securing extremely motivated employees and continuing to look far and wide for talented individuals.

We have recently hired two young women into DevOps trainee roles using Education and Skills Funding Agency support while partnering with Belfast Metropolitan College. They will earn while they learn and, hopefully, take a permanent job with us at the end of the scheme.

If you missed the session, you can now hear what the other panelists views are and how they are dealing with the current pandemic in their organisations. Just watch the recording below by clicking on session 19 (5:25:08):

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We are pleased to announce that Datactics has been selected to join Fintech 3.0, Tech Nation‘s highly specialised growth programme for the Fintech sector.

Tech Nation fuels the growth of the game-changing founders, leaders and scaling companies enabling the transformation of societies and economies alike. Each and every year, Tech Nation accepts a small number of high growth companies in the tech sphere to enter their programmes. We are delighted that we are 1 of 3 companies from Northern Ireland entering this year’s cohort, alongside Lightyear and Automated Intelligence. Together we are helping to validate the strength of the tech ecosystem within Northern Ireland. 

Gary Davidson, Entrepreneur Engagement Manager at Tech Nation said:

It brings me so much joy to announce that 10% of Tech Nation’s new Fintech 3.0 cohort is from Northern Ireland. This truly showcases the power of NI’s scaling Fintech sector & I can’t wait for Automated Intelligence, Datactics & Lightyear to start their journey with us

We are proud to be contributing to the strong tech ecosystem within Northern Ireland. Tech Nation have recently hailed Belfast as an increasingly promising spot for the technology industry, and they recently claimed that Belfast was the second-best place in the UK for tech workers to live.

Matthew Flenley, Marketing and Partnerships Manager said:

I’m delighted that Datactics will take part in this really exciting programme, and congratulations to all the other firms who are joining the cohort. The tech scene in Northern Ireland continues to thrive, and so we’re particularly delighted to be a part of this with fellow NI natives, Lightyear and Automated Intelligence. 

We’re already so impressed with the level of commitment and drive that the TechNation team has brought to the table and look forward to making the most of this prestigious programme over the coming months.

More about Tech Nation’s Fintech 3.0 program here. 

Press contact: Jamie Gordon

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Datactics has announced support for the talented trio of Belfast Prokick teens heading to Tokyo for the forthcoming ALL Japan Kickboxing Championships taking place on July 15^th.

Having taken the K1 Kickboxing Championships in December by storm, ProKick competitors James Branniff, Jay Snoddon and Grace Goody were invited to make a return to Japan and compete at this prestigious event.

Speaking about the decision to sponsor the team, Datactics CEO Stuart Harvey said:

“There’s so much to admire from this group of fighters whose club is based in East Belfast. The fact that they’ve put in so many hours of training, taken on the best in the world a long way from home – and won – really resonated with our own ambitions and experience.”

As part of the sponsorship arrangement, the ProKick team will wear Datactics-branded kit on their Japanese adventure, in a market that the Belfast-based software firm has recently been exploring. Founder Billy Murray, said:

“Support from local firms who compete on a global stage gives our fighters the best chance to showcase their talents and make the most of the opportunities that they’ve worked so hard to secure. We’d like to thank Datactics and CEO Stuart Harvey for their commitment to the ProKick family.”

Following up, the talented teen Grace Goody has been crowned champion in the ALL Japan Kickboxing Champtionships.

The trio returned to the land of the rising sun after their Japanese debut in 2019 to take on the goliaths of Tokyo. Through hardships and uncertainty, the team fought relentlessly with skill, tenacity, and bravery.

Massive congratulations to Grace, James and Jay; their hard work and dedication paid off with Grace gaining the accolade of being the first non-Japan female to be crowned champion! Amazing job to the whole team of rising stars, we can’t wait to see your next journey!

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Following a major expansion, we are pleased to announce that we have ranked at number 30 in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50, a ranking of the a ranking of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in Ireland. Rankings are based on average percentage revenue growth over four years.

The Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards is one of Ireland’s foremost technology award programmes.

This year marks 20 years of the programme celebrating innovation and entrepreneurship in Ireland’s indigenous technology sector.

Commenting on the company’s achievement, Stuart Harvey, Datactics CEO, said,

“This is a great tribute to everyone’s hard work at Datactics. We are delighted that our approach to self-service data quality solutions to day-to-day problems in banking and finance has been reflected in the company’s growth over the past four years, and led to being recognised as one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Ireland. We would especially like to thank our clients and partners for their willingness to engage and support us in our journey”.

Datactics specialises in class-leading, self-service data quality and matching software to ensure compliance with financial regulation, eliminate roadblocks in data management, and add value to enterprise data.

Datactics is one of 13 firms from Northern Ireland ranked in the top 50 by Deloitte.

Cumulatively, the 2019 Fast 50 winners generated approximately €3.6 billion in total annual revenues in 2018.

The average revenue of companies featured in the ranking was approximately €70 million, while the average growth rate of the companies over the last four years was 347%.

There are 18 new companies listed on the ranking.

Announcing the winners of the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 programme, Peter Allen, Partner, Deloitte, said:

“Since 2000, the awards have showcased an innovative and diverse range of technology companies, and this year is no different. Over this time, we have seen local technology companies capitalise on the opportunities presented by global changes. We’re delighted to be supporting these companies and recognising them with these awards. Over the last 20 years, the Fast 50 has become the benchmark of success for Irish tech companies.”

The Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards took place in Dublin on 25 October 2019. Keynote speaker on the night was Mark Casey, Global Leader of Telecoms, Media & Entertainment at Deloitte.

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Datactics officially opens second Belfast-based office, celebrating local partnerships. 

Following news of a major £1.2m investment, we are pleased to unveil the opening of our second office in Belfast City Centre as part of recent growth and expansion for the company.

Officially opening the office was Suzanne Wylie, Belfast City Council CEO.

Suzanne commented on how she has been greatly encouraged by how Belfast has supported the growth of technology firms like Datactics in recent years.

Joined by Thelma Crawford, Rosetta Primary School Principal, we celebrated our partnership with the local primary school to motivate and guide young people; in which we have become a finalist of the Responsible Business Awards.

This partnership continues into its second year, with our employees volunteering within Rosetta to empower parents through knowledge transfers and encourage the aspirations and development of local children in English, maths and coding skills.

With more than double the number of employees from the year prior, the premises have been officially opened to facilitate the company’s rapid expansion and to fulfill the growing client demand.

Expanding our workforce to almost 50 employees, we have also been shortlisted by the Belfast Telegraph for the “Best Place to Work in IT” award.

We have created new roles across various departments, including Marketing, Finance, Sales, HR, Data Engineering and as well as a brand new AI team led by Dr. Fiona Browne and a DevOps & Security Team led by Dave Brown.

Commenting on the team’s growth, Stuart Harvey, Datactics CEO, said “We want to work with great people, regardless of their gender, their nationality or their social background. Belfast has transformed into a thriving hub for technology, with key human resources for recruitment through our partnerships with Ulster University, Queens University as well as The Open University.”

We plan to continue further refinement of our products and services, alongside research and development into Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning processes.

Some of the Datactics “Women in Tech”: Helen Long, Elspeth Flenley, Tania Ahmed, Ruta Ziukaite, Dr Raghad AI-Shabandr, Daiva Venceviciute, Suzanne Wylie, Alexandra Collins, Courtney Lewis, Dr. Fiona Browne.

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We are pleased to announce the closing of a £1.2m investment round in Datactics led by Kernel Capital and Par Equity, marking the completion of a package commenced in 2018.

The second round of funding secured by Datactics from The Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund (NI). 

We have grown significantly since our initial investment in 2018 with the addition of 12 new hires and this latest funding round will support our ambitious growth plans by facilitating R&D and the hiring of additional key personnel as we builds upon our international customer base across Europe and the US.

Datactics CEO, Stuart Harvey says:
Seldom does a day go by where the possibilities of machine learning aren’t being discussed, and everything we are hearing from industry agrees that any successful use of this technology will rely on fast access to perfected data. This has been our sweet spot since we were founded, and in which we’ve been investing continuously throughout the six years I have been involved at Datactics. We are delighted to have received this round of funding from the Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund (NI) & Par Equity at this exciting time in our company’s history and we look forward to working with them.

The Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund (NI) is pleased to continue its support by leading a further £1.2m investment round in Datactics. Led by Stuart Harvey, the Company is developing its reputation as a go to supplier for data quality software solutions and this has been evident through significant new blue chip customer sales wins across both the financial services and government sectors.  This investment will allow the Company to invest further in its innovative product suite and will help support its ambitions to scale into international markets.

Allen Martin, Partner, Kernel Capital

Providing local innovative companies like Datactics with access to much needed finance to grow is exactly why we put in place our Access to Finance portfolio of debt and equity funds. The company’s growth since the initial investment, and their success in securing further investment demonstrates the importance of funds like The Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund (NI).

William McCulla, Director of Corporate Finance, Invest NI

As a banking partner to many businesses we know businesses have been investing for the future – and this investment which supports Datactics in further accelerating their scaling ambition through new product development to increase their competitiveness and successful expansion into international markets. We are delighted to see this further investment in Datactics, reinforcing confidence and support for their growth ambitions.

Gavin Kennedy, Head of Business Banking NI, Bank of Ireland UK

The Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund (NI) was designed to help SMEs in Northern Ireland to accelerate their growth.

Invest Northern Ireland has committed £15 million of funding to this fund which is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund under the EU Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme 2014-2020.

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Belfast, London, New York, Brussels, Milan, 29th May 2019

BELFAST BUSINESS RECEIVES BOARD OF TRADE AWARD FOR EXPORTING SUCCESS

Belfast-based software company Datactics presented with Board of Trade Award (BOFTA) for exceptional performance in international trade.

• The BOFTAs celebrate businesses that are bringing innovation and prosperity to the UK and contributing to international trade
• In 2018, exports from Northern Ireland were worth £8.9 billion, up 1.9% from the previous year

Belfast data software company Datactics was presented with a Board of Trade Award (BOFTA) by International Trade Secretary Dr Liam Fox MP last Thursday (16 May 2019) in recognition of their exporting success.

Datactics provides regulatory technology solutions for the banking and financial services sector. These enable financial institutions to comply with regulatory requirements associated with managing and reporting of large quantities of data.

The company has ambitious growth plans for Europe and the USA and revenues forecast to grow by around 50% this year.

Secretary of State for International Trade and President of the Board of Trade, The Rt Hon Dr Liam Fox MP, said:

“I was delighted to present Datactics with a BOFTA last week. The company is contributing to a stronger economy not just for Belfast and Northern Ireland, but for the UK as a whole.

My international economic department is committed to supporting more businesses in Northern Ireland to expand and sell overseas. Last year alone we provided £33 million of UK Export Finance support to exporters from Northern Ireland, which has already resulted in more than £46 million worth of overseas sales.”

The BOFTAs celebrate businesses who are championing free trade through exporting, bringing investment into the UK or demonstrating an innovative approach to entering international markets. Datactics received a BOFTA as the Board of Trade visited Northern Ireland for the first time in its almost 400 year history.

Head of Marketing at Datactics, Matt Flenley, said:

“We are thrilled to receive this award as we grow our business internationally. In any given week we could have people working on client projects in Reykjavik, New York, Amsterdam or London, all linking in with our home in Belfast as we spread the word on the high quality of the Northern Irish tech scene.

That the Department for International Trade has seen fit to present us with this award is a genuine encouragement to us to continue our efforts in expanding our company, equipping business teams at banks and data firms with our precision data quality and matching tools.”

During the awards, Dr Fox also urged Northern Ireland businesses to become Export Advocates and to provide advice, encouragement and support to other companies looking to sell their products and services overseas.

The Export Advocate community is a network of UK companies acting as ambassadors for exporting, sharing their success stories, offering practical advice and leading by example. They can be contacted via great.gov.uk and on the Exporting is GREAT Facebook group. Businesses in Northern Ireland can sign up to become Export Advocates via great.gov.uk/community.

Manufacturing Northern Ireland CEO Stephen Kelly was also appointed to the Board of Trade last week to be the ‘eyes and ears’ of the modern business community, ensuring that the benefits of free trade are spread equally across the UK. He joins the existing 22 advisers, drawn from a cross-section of business, industry and nations of the UK.

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The Responsible Business Awards seek to recognise and reward firms in Northern Ireland that are embracing the journey to build better workforces, create a sustainable economy and healthy communities

The winner will be announced at a special black-tie event on Thursday 30 May at Belfast Waterfront Hall

Shortlisted in the Education Award category, sponsored by Allen & Overy, Datactics has demonstrated how its actions have helped raise the aspirations and achievements of young people (aged 4-19) through a solid business education partnership.

Stuart Harvey, Chief Executive Officer at Datactics said:

We are thrilled to have been shortlisted for the Education Partner Award. In a very short period of time, we have made fantastic progress in supporting Rosetta Primary School through four different volunteering opportunities, helping children and adults with key language skills, providing business and marketing guidance to the teachers, and with plans to broaden this further in 2019 through coding classes and maintenance work. This nomination is a great tribute to our highly committed staff team who act as fantastic volunteers and supporters, and to our partners at Rosetta, without whom none of this would be possible

The annual awards, run by Business in the Community and supported by JP Corry and Ulster Business, seek to recognise and celebrate firms in Northern Ireland that are making a difference by taking practical action to address pressing social and environmental issues.

Business in the Community NI’s Managing Director, Kieran Harding, said:

Now more than ever, businesses are getting on with the job – demonstrating strong leadership and their commitment to their people, the planet and the places in which they are located. The Awards provide the perfect vehicle to showcase some of the best responsible business actions being taken by organisations here to ensure they are continuing to be a force for good in society. Once again, the calibre of entries for this year’s Responsible Business Awards in Northern Ireland was exceptionally high, and our judges found the shortlisting process a challenge. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all finalists the very best of luck and we look forward to welcoming everyone to the gala awards dinner at Belfast Waterfront Hall on Thursday 30 May where the winners will be announced.

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