Eyes on the prize
Wired Associate Editor Rowland Manthorpe explains why the magazine is on the hunt for the UK's best innovators
WORDS: JOHN C SILCOX
PHOTOGRAPHY: CHARLIE SURBEY
Wired magazine and Audi share a mission: to bring about progress through the creative use of technology. So that’s why we’ve decided to work together on the Wired Audi Innovation Awards.
This is a natural collaboration between two brands focused on innovation, and it’s an amazing opportunity to put the spotlight on the ground-breaking work being done around the country, as well as celebrating the use of forward-looking technologies. There are seven categories focusing on different aspects of fresh and inventive work, and we’re welcoming submissions from individuals, start-ups, businesses and organisations operating in every domain imaginable. Categories will be judged by a panel of experts in different fields, as well as representatives from Wired and Audi – apart from Moonshot Of The Year, which will be voted for by the public. And the awards ceremony will be held in November.
At Wired we always strive to champion the best innovators, whether that’s in technology, science, design, business or ideas. Within the pages of our magazine – in print or online – we want to surprise readers with new and relevant information to enhance their lives and work. But unlike most other media we also try to show a positive message – it works well because the people we write about are also the people who read us. Before now we hadn’t formalised our work with an awards ceremony, so it was a logical step that we should try to fill that gap. This new venture is a great opportunity to go beyond what we do in print and online by looking back at the best innovations of the past 12 months. We’re hugely grateful to have Audi as a partner to help us do that.
Science and technology can often be perceived as being quite cold and unemotive subjects, but that’s simply not true. Most innovations in these fields come from outstanding individuals who invest all of their time and thought into trying to change big issues facing humanity. If you look at most of the giant corporations that now dominate the sphere, they were started with a very humanistic approach to work and a desire to change the world for the better. Personally I am very excited that the awards can include the broad spectrum of what innovation represents, from brilliant consumer products all the way to augmented and virtual realities. I’m especially excited about the prize for artificial intelligence, which I consider as the forefront of technological change. The UK is one of the leading countries in this area, so it’ll be a chance to assess the state of the field. In certain, limited areas it is now possible to reproduce – and even outdo – human intelligence, and such incredible advances must be recognised.
The strict definition of innovation is simply ‘new things put into practice’ – but for me innovation means so much more than that. It’s the spark of genius that has caught fire, the lightning that has been harnessed, the strange plant that has taken root. Put simply, it’s the first glimpse of the future, an incredibly exciting place to be, which makes you feel as if the world is young and that anything is possible.