Gloucestershire
Tech Week

12–16 October 2026 · Mission Driven

The 2026 theme

Mission Driven.

Five days explored how Gloucestershire’s people and technology help tackle society’s biggest challenges, with topics drawn loosely from the UK’s National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence Review.

Programme · 12–16 October 2026

How the week unfolded.

The programme moved from the county's industrial past to the people now building its next chapter, with conversations ranging from entrepreneurship and innovation to post-quantum cryptography and AI security.

Mon12Oct

Heritage

The week opened among historic aviation technologies at the Jet Age Museum, a deliberate choice. Gloucestershire has met national challenges before, in flight, in agriculture and in signals intelligence, and the day asked what that record can teach us now.

Past into futureAviation and signals intelligence both grew from long runs of trial and error, not sudden breakthroughs. The conversation traced how that local record still shapes the way the county approaches new technology.
Building a connected innovation ecosystemThe county’s real strength lies where its sectors meet. Aerospace, cyber, agriculture and the universities are at their best when they work together rather than side by side.
Passing on the batonA heritage only matters if it is handed on. Apprentices and young founders took the microphone and showed how the county's next generation is already carrying that story forward.
From legacy to launchpadWith that history in mind, the day closed on what is being built in the county today. Founders shared what it takes to start something of their own, while advanced manufacturing and farming technology showed that work already under way.

Tue13Oct

Resilience & Sovereignty

Co-produced with Gloucestershire County Council, Tuesday took the week to the sharp end of security. It began by pulling apart three ideas that are often blurred together: security, resilience and sovereignty, each carrying a different weight in government, the boardroom and everyday life.

Seeing the risks aheadSome of the biggest risks are the least visible. The conversation looked ahead to the move to post-quantum cryptography, the exposed infrastructure of space, and the questions of where data lives and how identity is trusted.
Resilience under pressureResilience is really tested after something goes wrong. HCR Law’s interactive incident walkthrough showed that the consequences of an attack are legal, commercial and reputational as much as technical.
Whole-of-society approachNational security runs from individuals to global companies and everyone in between. Conversations on why defence needs SMEs and how everyday businesses adopt technology all landed on the same point: building and testing resilience belongs front of mind for all of us.

Wed14Oct

Curiosity

Wednesday at FuturePark turned from systems to people, on a simple starting point: curiosity is where new capability begins, and thinking differently drives growth, innovation and resilience.

Entrepreneurship as a mindsetEntrepreneurship is not a job title. It can thrive in lecture halls, community groups, government departments and global corporations alike.
Innovation as a journeyInnovation rarely follows a neat method. Speakers reflected on how culture, and the messy reality of doing things differently, shapes progress as much as any process does.
The science of great teamsNeuroscience offered a fresh lens on what makes high-performing teams, showing that the way people think together matters as much as what they know.
Unlocking hidden talentTalent is often closer than we think. Career changers, people who doubt they are technical enough for cyber and neurodivergent thinkers were all part of the conversation, which moved past awareness towards practical action.

Thu15Oct

[Artificial] Intelligence

The brackets in Thursday’s title were a signal: a day about intelligence in the broadest sense. Hosted at Patch in Gloucester with day partner Zaizi, it approached AI with ambition and scepticism in equal measure.

AI and the balance of powerAI does not arrive in a vacuum. It is shaped by existing systems of power, and the discussion explored how it is already beginning to reshape them in turn.
Building trust into AITrust has to be built in from the start. Speakers explored how to keep AI systems secure, the vulnerabilities that can hide in AI-generated code, and who owns what AI creates.
Keeping people at the centreAI is something people decide how to build and use. Whether the topic was jobs, environmental cost or the skills we need, the conversation kept returning to human choices.
From ambition to everyday useBig ideas were matched by hands-on practice. Charities took their first steps with Copilot, and one project showed how AI is helping to understand over a thousand businesses across the county’s market towns.

Fri16Oct

Opportunity

Opportunity was framed in two ways: opening the door to people who have not yet stepped through it, and helping those who have built something to protect it.

Opening doors for young peopleOpportunity starts with seeing yourself in the industry. At EmPower 2026, supported by Gemba Advantage and Golden Valley, young people spent a hands-on day discovering careers in tech and cyber.
Protecting what you buildBuilding something is only half the job. A light-hearted but practical countdown walked founders through the most common ways they give away control of their businesses, and how to avoid them.

The people

Speakers

Across the five days, over 120 speakers shared the stage: security leaders, founders, researchers, apprentices and students. Find a selection of our speakers below.

Tony Comer OBE FRHistSRetired Departmental Historian, GCHQ
Katie MuldoonDirector, Yellowrattle Collective Ltd
Becky ChisholmeCyber Security Apprentice, Microsoft
Gareth NelsonPostgraduate Academic Lead, University of Gloucestershire
Stu BerryCTO, Origin8tive
Adam WurrProgramme Leader for Geopolitics and Government, Centre for Geopolitics, University of Cambridge
Lee HibbertChief Quantum Resilience Officer, Quantumfy
Monika RadclyffeSr Dir of Programmes, Plexal
Paul CrichardField CISO - EMEA, Mimecast
Neave AndersonHead of Agri-Tech & Innovation, Hartpury University & College
Sonam BelbaseData and AI Governance Advisor, AI West
Lucy DavisAdvisor and Speaker on AI Ethics, Tech & Society (ex-Google), Actually Intelligent
Ainga PillaiFounder and CEO, Zaizi
Tommaso SpinelliAI Advisor, Zaizi
Iryna OkhrymenkoAI Researcher, Aston University + Intercity Technology