Digital Missions: The Story So Far, Future Plans, New Initiatives

A little over three years ago, preparations for the very first Digital Mission to New York were just starting. A lot's happened since then, so what better time to reflect on the past, and ponder the future?

In this post (sorry it's quite long), we're reflecting on the story so far, looking at the future, how the missions are funded and the work to make them sustainable in the long-term, our plans for the next Digital Missions and three exciting new initiatives, plus how to get involved.

Read on, and do comment, we'd love your feedback.

For sponsors, there are many ways to get involved with the missions from supporting the entire series, through to hosting events during a particular trip. As well as the benefits of engaging as a brand, and developing strong relationships with leading entrepreneurs, there are opportunities to develop market knowledge and support staff development. Drop us a line (missionchinwag [dot] com) for more info.

or if you need any further information, feel free to email missionchinwag [dot] com or call +44 (0)20 7183 2923.

Digital Mission: The Story So Far...

Starting on a process for the first time with less than 12 weeks to spare, it looked like a daunting proposition: take 25 small UK digital firms to New York for a week's worth of events covering investment, industry, government, the startup scene to discover the challenges and opportunities of expanding their businesses across the pond.

Despite some spectacularly inauspicious timing - the first day of our trip coincided with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, welcome to New York everyone! - it proved successful and several of the firms involved have gone on to start US operations, gain investment and take on new staff.

Now, three years and seven Digital Missions later, over 140 companies have taken part in a Digital Mission and when we asked them how they'd fared, the stats show a sector growing rapidly, with global ambitions for the future - a good thing too, in the current economic climate. 

Of the Digital Mission companies responding (so far):

• 8 companies raised over $18 million investment
• 19 awards won and 7 award nominations received
• 12 companies have hired or are hiring new full-time staff
• 25 companies have told us they've received investment

Digital Mission: The Future

You might be asking, as are we, what does the future hold? Good question! We surveyed the industry to find out which destinations UK digital firms were considering for their expansion plans.

We'll publish the results in full, but it won't surprise you to find the US market was by far the most popular. If the East and West coasts were considered as individual countries, they were still more than twice as popular as the next contender. In order of popularity, the destinations were:

1. USA
2. Australia
3. France
4. Germany
5. China
6. India
7. Singapore

These results have been taken into account when putting together the potential destinations for the next series. Whilst the US features prominently, the process of building connections with the East is critical if the UK's digital sector is going to remain healthy. In the future, we'll be looking to balance visits to new markets with the feasibility of successfully expanding a UK business there.

For that reason, a potential Digital Mission to Singapore (and possibly Hong Kong) is high on our priority list for the next few months. South East Asia and China represent a complex market, very different from our own and whilst the opportunity is enormous, so are the challenges. The best way to face these is by engaging both virtually and on a face-to-face level, where activities like the Digital Missions come in to their own.

The next Digital Missions

Our aim is to put together a series of Digital Missions through the Autumn and early 2012, building on previous trips and extending the opportunities for UK firms into new markets, particularly looking East. Don't forget to read the caveat!

In addition to the Digital Mission to Washington, DC (11-15th July), focusing on digital government, we're also planning:

• Digital Mission to LA/San Francisco (Autumn 2011) - digital design, creative, content, animation, games
• Digital Mission to New York (Nov 2011) - digital media, advertising, content, apps, mobile
• Digital Mission to Singapore (Autumn 2011) - all digital sectors
• Digital Mission to SXSW Interactive (March 2012) - all digital sectors

If you're interested in attending any of the above Digital Missions, please let us know:

// Register your interest in Digital Mission Autumn Series 

*CAVEAT*

In an ideal world, we'll be able to run all these missions, but sadly this really isn't an ideal world. A successful trip is dependent on timing, funding, partners and many other factors.

We'd love to have your input and expressions of interest, they're a crucial part in developing and improving the trips as well as helping us figure out the feasibility of adding new destinations.

Funding the Digital Missions

If there's one thing that keeps us up at night, it's the challenge of making the programme sustainable, well that, and whether British Airways or Virgin will call a strike when everyone is flying out. 

Becoming sustainable and maintaining the incredible value for money is definitely a challenge.  Our aim is to make the trips incredible value for money. If you've taken part, you'll know that the cost of attending (usually between £500 and £850) represents a fraction of the cost in putting everything together.

The rest of the funding comes both through government, primarily, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the agency responsible for promoting UK trade internationally and attracting investment into the UK. The in-kind support and sponsorship from commercial partners enhances the trips and adds on events and connections that add significant value to the trips.

As everyone knows, there's heavy pressure on public funding and it's likely that the cost for SMEs taking part in the Digital Missions will rise. Hopefully the government will continue to support initiatives like the Digital Missions and it'll be possible to more than match the shortfall through private sector support.

If you'd like to find out more about sponsoring a Digital Mission, hosting events at your offices inside or outside the UK, or have any other queries, do missionchinwag [dot] com (drop us a line).

Getting Involved

The ingredients that make the missions possible is the companies, the sponsors and the mission supporters. Without these the recipe just wouldn't work.

If you want to get involved in future missions, please fill out our Expression of Interest questionnaire, follow @digitalmission on Twitter or sign-up for the free, Digital Mission email newsletter.

For sponsors, there are many ways to get involved with the missions from supporting the entire series, through to hosting events during a particular trip. As well as the benefits of engaging as a brand, and developing strong relationships with leading entrepreneurs, there are opportunities to develop market knowledge and support staff development.

Drop us a line (missionchinwag [dot] com) for more info.

Announcing Three New Initiatives

After ruminating on the results of our surveys and the general change in the economic environment, we're announcing two important new initiatives to the Digital Missions. We'll cover these in more detail in the future, but here's a run-down:

• Digital Mission Observer Programme - the missions are aimed squarely at UK-based digital SMEs, this programme provides an opportunity for larger corporates, NGOs, government agencies and academics to take part and benefit from the interaction with leading industry figures and the mission programme.

• Chinwag Mini-Missions - building on our experience of overseas groups heading to digital events, we're planning to run a series of group trips to the top digital conferences outside the UK. The first event will be announced shortly, so keep your eyes peeled and join your fellow digital professionals on a trip to some of the leading conferences.

• Digital Mission Board - drawn from experts across industry, both in the UK and overseas, we'll be forming an advisory board to drive the success and sustainability of the programme.

With Thanks To

The Digital Mission series was originally developed for UKTI, based loosely on their trade missions in other sectors. Our belief was always that the digital sector has embraced a more open and collaborative style of working, which we aim to reflect in the way the Digital Missions are organised.

Over the years we've worked with UKTI teams all over the world, without whom much of what's been achieved wouldn't be possible. Our peers at Webmission helped inspire us and with their brilliant trips to Silicon Valley set a great benchmark. 

Don't Forget

If you're interested in attending any of the Digital Missions mentioned, please let us know:

// Register your interest in Digital Mission Autumn Series 

or if you need any further information, feel free to email missionchinwag [dot] com or call +44 (0)20 7183 2923.

N.B. If you run alternative trade missions, do drop us a line. Where possible, we're happy to promote other international trips to our audience. Our belief is that these links are critical to building the long-term future of the UK's digital sector.

Photo (cc) Darcie Tanner.