Press Release: Lloyd’s Register announces the incorporation of Safetytech Accelerator and members of its Board of Directors.

After a successful phase as an innovation programme, Lloyd’s Register Group has incorporated Safetytech Accelerator as a non-profit. The Safetytech Accelerator has now gone on to announce its inaugural Board of Directors.

The Safetytech Accelerator is the first and only technology accelerator focused exclusively on safety and risk in industrial environments and its mission is to help drive wider awareness and adoption of leading-edge digital technologies to solve the world’s most complex safety and risk challenges.

The inaugural Board of Directors includes Nial McCollam, Lloyd’s Register Group CTO as Chair, Dr. Maurizio Pilu as Managing Director and recently appointed Annemie Ress, who joins as independent Non-Executive Director.

Annemie Ress had this to say about her appointment, “Lloyd’s Register’s vision is to make the world a safer place and I am excited to join the Board of the Safetytech Accelerator which I believe can play a part in achieving that vision and impact.  I am looking forward to being involved in its ground-breaking work and with an impressive team.”

Commenting on Ress’s appointment, Nial McCollam said: “I am delighted to welcome Annemie Ress to the Board, she brings with her outstanding experience in a wide range of technology businesses at all levels of maturity. We’re excited to leverage her knowledge of innovation, people and future trends to help us take the Accelerator to the next level.”

Around 20 clients have worked with the accelerator to date, including Wallenius Wilhelmsen, Scorpio, P66, Pepsi Cola, Shell, the Health and Safety Executive, KOTUG, Pacific International Lines and many more.  It will continue to develop collaborations around major safety and risk challenges, and in January it launched a £1m Proof of Concept fund to support that.

Dr. Maurizio Pilu said: “I am excited to be leading the Safetytech Accelerator into this new phase.  The Safetytech Accelerator is a challenge-led accelerator. It was built around industry’s deepest unmet needs and the appetite of innovators to enter high-value collaborations with large clients to discover new markets.  As an autonomous entity we will expand on this by entering into new collaborations and programmes and seek to partner with organisations with aligned missions, and who share our passion for impact-investing.”

The Safetytech Accelerator focuses on digital technologies applied to safety and risk, or industrial safetytech in short, which includes data analytics, AI, visual analytics, AR&VS, sensors, wearables, drones and robotics, and often applies technologies that are further ahead in other sectors – such as fintech – to the world of industrial safety and risk.

There will be five main priority areas: safety for a sustainable future, safety at sea, safety of food, safety of physical infrastructure and safety of digital systems.

Dr Pilu concluded: “There is a lot of interest in the ESG agenda at the moment, and rightly so. In our discussions with partners and clients we’re increasingly seeing that our work in safetytech not only can directly addresses specific industry challenges, but also enables broader sustainability and social goals. We hope to be able to play a key part in this over the coming years.”

Find out more about the Safetytech Accelerator here.

ENDS

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About the Safetytech Accelerator 

The Safetytech Accelerator is a non-profit established by Lloyd’s Register and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation. It is the first fully dedicated technology accelerator focused on safety and risk in industrial sectors. Their mission is to make the world safer and more sustainable through wider adoption of safetytech.

Find out more about the Board Members: 

Nial McCollam: 

Nial is Lloyd’s Register Chief Technology Officer with responsibility for Lloyd’s Register’s commercial software business; the data digital innovation strategy and technology related corporate development.

Prior to Lloyd’s Register Nial joined the Senergy Group as Managing Director of Senergy Alternative Energy in 2007; ultimately becoming a director and shareholder in the Senergy Group with responsibility for software, technology and innovation. Previously he held roles as CEO of ITI Energy, Consultant with Bain & Company and senior management positions with ExxonMobil.

Dr Maurizio Pilu 

Maurizio is the Managing Director of Safetytech Accelerator Limited. Previously he was Vice President of Digital Innovation at Lloyd’s Register Group, where he established the first ever digital innovation practice in Lloyd’s Register history.   Prior to Lloyd’s Register, he co-founded and was executive director of the UK’s national digital innovation centre, the Digital Catapult.

Maurizio is a technology and innovation executive with nearly three decades of experience in R&D, strategy, innovation, corporate development, commercialisation of technology and science and technology policy and investment at UK level. In his career he has been a prolific innovator and inventor, with over 40 granted US patents and 35 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Annemie Ress 

Annemie Ress is a consultant who works with leaders and businesses at various stages of growth in Engineering, Technology, e-Commerce, FMCG, Financial Services, Telecommunications, News, Media, Entertainment and Local Government. She draws on her experience as Managing Director at Innogy Innovation, an investment arm of E.on SE, Global HR Director at Skype, Global Head of  People Innovation at eBay plus senior HR roles PayPal Europe, The International Petroleum Exchange and PepsiCo. She holds an undergraduate Law degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and has postgraduate degrees in Law and in German.