Living Map: Bridging the information gap between people and places

Q: Hello Dan. What developments have there been since CES 2018 ?

Since attending CES as ENGIE’s partner in January, we’ve seen our engagement with the European team take off. It was a great platform for reaching new areas of ENGIE’s organization and discussing innovative new projects.

Back in the UK, where our partnership originally started, we’ve also kicked off a new project at Kew Gardens, an extremely busy visitor destination, where we’re working with ENGIE to create a real-time digital map interface that helps their teams improve service delivery.

Q: What are you hoping for from your participation in Viva Technology 2018 with ENGIE?

VivaTech itself represents an incredible opportunity to meet new prospective partners and customers, and a useful source of feedback on the direction of our product roadmap. There’s nothing better than putting your product in front of a technology-committed audience to bring new ideas to the table.

And we see all these events as a great opportunity to meet new teams within ENGIE’s organisation, so we’re excited about developing new and productive relationships with some new European colleagues!

Q: What will you be showing on your stand at Vivatech?

We’ll be showing off our digital map and data platform, and sharing examples of how our digital map applications have simplified access to information in complex B2B and B2C environments... such as our latest ENGIE project at Kew Gardens.

Q: How is your relationship with ENGIE progressing, and do you have any particular wishes about this for the future?

We’ve come a long way since winning the UK Big Pitch in 2016. We now have multiple shared projects underway and most importantly have built strong relationships with senior members of the management team. Another example of how our relationship has matured is the expansion of our network within ENGIE beyond the UK team and into European and worldwide business units.

We want to strengthen this relationship further through joint investment in new projects that not only represent innovation but, critically, add tangible value to ENGIE’s operations. Innovation can’t exist in a vacuum, and the challenge now is to apply what we’ve learned to as wide a range of projects as possible, to deliver cost-efficiency and a market-leading service for end-customers.

Q: What advice would you give to someone on the point of launching a startup similar to yours, or in the same field of activity?

First, think carefully before you take the leap. It’s a massive commitment and requires passion and dedication. Beyond that, the most important thing in my view is to validate that there is a real market need for the product or solution you provide. A lot of startup founders are so enamoured with their idea or product that they don’t bother to check whether there is an addressable market and a viable commercial model. Looking outside the four walls of your nascent start-up’s office is essential.

Q: For you, the future will be...

The future will be seamless. By this I mean that technology will break down the barriers between people and places to make relevant information available at the touch of a button or via other new and intuitive interfaces.

Q: And a slogan to define your company?

Living Map bridges the information gap between people and places.

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