ECCLESTON SQUARE HOTEL
INAMO ST. JAMES
ROYAL OBSERVATORY GREENWICH
ROYAL INSTITUTION GREAT BRITAIN
ODEON BFI IMAX
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF COMPUTING
WALKING TOUR WITH LAURENCE
IPILOT FLIGHT SIMULATOR
FLUX INNOVATION LOUNGE
INTEROP LONDON
VIEW ALL EVENTSSign Up For UpdatesTHE GEEK'S GUIDE TO
LONDON
The National Museum of Computing
iPilot London
Royal Institution of Great Britain
inamo St. James
Eccleston Square
BFI IMAX
Flux Innovation Lounge
Royal Observatory
Walking Tour
London is rapidly positioning itself as one of the most significant technology hubs outside of Silicon Valley. From 15–21 June, technology enthusiasts from all walks of life will descend on this technological metropolis to explore, learn and celebrate with like-minded people during London Technology Week.
If you find time between a busy schedule of events, why not explore the geekier side to this great city.
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THE GEEK’S GUIDE TO LONDON
The Geek’s Guide to London is an introduction to some of the city’s more techie attractions. It has been put together for those visitors and locals intending to attend London Technology Week and looking for something to keep them busy between events.
London Technology Week (15-21 June) is a week of face-to-face events celebrating London’s global position as a hotbed of technology innovation, business successes, entrepreneurship and creative talent. No other festival brings together as many domestic and international tech specialists and enthusiasts to London for such a variety of networking, social learning and business opportunities. The programme’s headline events explore talent and education, innovation and growth, investment and funding, coming to London and going global, diversity and social impact within the field of technology.
London Technology Week also welcomes fringe event submissions from a whole host of verticals including madtech, entertainment, enterprise, fintech, edtech, design, gaming, health, travel, retail and security. The festival will continue into the weekend for consumer, cultural and social events focusing on tech as an enabler for business growth, innovation and disruption.
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE…
BIRTHPLACE OF GEEKS
GETTING AROUND
The hitchhiker’s guide…
We all know that Big Ben is… well, big, and we know that the Queen’s guards won’t laugh – even if you hit them with your favourite IT joke; but what if you are looking for something more, something that will stimulate your inner-geek? What you really need is a ‘Geek’s guide to London’.
If you are thinking about registering for
which is the headline IT event of London Technology Week and want a hitchhiker’s guide to the geekier side of this wonderful galaxy, then grab a towel, don’t panic and read on.
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE…
BIRTHPLACE OF GEEKS
GETTING AROUND
London: The birthplace of the original geeks
What do the laws of motion, the steam locomotive, the electric motor, the jet engine and the computer all have in common?
If you're a geek, you know that they were all invented in Britain. This tiny island has a scientific and technological heritage to be proud of and nowhere is this more apparent than in the capital city of London.
Whether you are strolling down St Martin's Street only to realise that you are passing Sir Isaac Newton’s old digs, or watching a musical at the Savoy Theatre, to discover that it was the first building in the world to be lit entirely by electricity (thanks to Joseph Swan’s incandescent light bulbs) – London is positively brimming with geekiness; you just need to know where to look.
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE…
BIRTHPLACE OF GEEKS
GETTING AROUND
Getting around
When the Circle line opened in 1884, it was described by The Times as ‘a form of mild torture, which no person would undergo if he could conveniently help it’. While many Londoners would say that not much has changed, the
London Underground remains by-far-and-away, the most convenient way to get around. As the oldest rapid transit system in the world, it oozes with geeky facts and figures. For example, if you were to lay all of the Underground’s track out in a straight line, it would stretch from London to Paris with 40 miles left to spare. The combined distance travelled each year by all of the trains is 47.3 million miles – enough to get you to the moon and back almost 200 times. And over 1.265 billion passengers use the Underground each year – more than the population of India.
But the Tube is not the only form of transport in London — far from it. There are the famous double decker buses, the
not-so-famous boats, the iconic black cabs and if you are feeling particularly daring, the
Boris bikes.
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Interop London—
The Ultimate Geek's Destination
COORDINATES: 51.508450, 0.029846
The ultimate destination on this geek’s guide is
Interop London, the headline event of London Technology Week, 15-21 June at ExCel London.
Interop London is designed for IT and technology professionals looking to source solutions, products and thought leadership around operational efficiency, project management, new and emerging tech and managing teams.
Alongside 150 exhibitors showcasing the latest tech and innovation, Interop London has an extensive education programme designed for everyone from IT Managers to Chief Information Officers from small to large organisations. You can also keep yourself busy visiting The Marketplace, which provides live pitching and bite size presentations from specialists who've grown businesses from start-up to scale-up to IPO on a domestic or global scale and includes presentations from Microsoft Ventures, Mendeley and IncuBus Ventures. Fintech Circle and Don't Pitch Me Bro will also be bringing interactive sessions to the programme. The Interop Lab is the perfect place for the developers among you to hone your skills and get hands on.
Interop London is also the perfect opportunity to network with those facing the same challenges as you from businesses large and small, across multiple industry sectors.
Find out more about Interop LondonNEAREST TUBE STATION:
Custom House
GEEK TIP:
Rather than take the DLR to ExCeL, why not head down the river on one of the Thames Clippers and then hop on
The Emirates Air Line cable cars. Not only will you avoid the Underground, but also you will get to experience London from a new perspective.
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Photo Credit: ©Google Jul 2014
Eccleston Square Hotel
COORDINATES: 51.492073, -0.144088
The mark of a high-tech hotel used to be that it had a docking station for your iPod or an Ethernet port for your laptop, but that is so last decade. To get the London Technology Week Geek’s Guide to London seal of approval, a hotel has to bring its A-game and with that, we wholeheartedly recommend
Eccleston Square Hotel. The hotel’s rooms are packed with useful and fun tech. Let’s start with the TV, which is a 46-inch HD 3D neo-plasma Panasonic beast. Pair this with a Sky 3D package and full 5.1 surround sound and it can be difficult to find a reason to leave the room.
Touch sensitive keypads control everything from the music to the lighting. Your in-room iPad acts as a digital concierge, allowing you to order room service without that awkward 2am phone call.
These hoteliers have really put some thought into making your stay that little bit more comfortable and so as well as the superfluous eccentricities, there are also plenty of useful features. The safes, for example, are large enough to fit laptops; hardly bleeding edge technology, but a nice touch for the IT crowd. The wall plugs even have integrated travel adaptors.
There are some rather quirky features, such as the largely useless but endlessly entertaining SmartGlass shower walls that turn from clear to frosted at the touch of a button. There are even flat screen TVs hidden in the bathroom mirrors.
NEAREST TUBE STATION:
Victoria
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“Join over 40,000 people from 40 countries for London Technology Week, held at venues all over London”
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inamo St. James
COORDINATES: 51.508479, -0.133222
What do you get when you cross Oriental fusion food with high tech dining? You get inamo, of course.
Inamo St. James has a delightful range of Asian delicacies on offer, combining Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Korean flavours; but let’s be honest, great restaurants are a tuppence a dozen in London.
What sets inamo apart is its E-Tables, claimed to be the ‘world's first interactive food ordering system with overhead projection technology’. As well as pulling up a virtual representation of the dish you are considering, you can also order straight from the interactive table.
Don’t like the look of your E-Table? No problem, simply change the virtual tablecloths. Check out the inamo chefs hard at work using the live 'Chef Cam' function, play a game while you wait for your food and once you’ve had your fill, order a taxi — all from the comfort of your digital table.
NEAREST TUBE STATION:
Piccadilly Circus
Photo Credit: ©National Maritime Museum, London
Royal Observatory Greenwich
COORDINATES: 51.476800, -0.000000
Home of the Prime Meridian, and arguably time itself, it doesn’t get much geekier than the
Royal Observatory Greenwich.The Prime Meridian is essentially ground zero for the east-west geographic measure known as longitude. Initially marked by a brass strip in the courtyard, it has since been upgraded to stainless steel and is now accompanied by a powerful green laser which lights up the London night sky.
Assuming you’re not wearing a smartwatch, you can sync up your legacy technology with the time ball which drops once a day at 1pm exactly.
Also be sure to check out one of the planetarium shows and don't forget to find the camera obscura hidden away in a small summerhouse outside.
HOW TO GET THERE:
Catch a Southeastern train to Greenwich Station from London Bridge.
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Royal Observatory Greenwich
COORDINATES: 51.476800, -0.000000
HOW TO GET THERE: Catch a Southeastern train to Greenwich Station from London Bridge.
Get DirectionsGEEK TIP:
While you’re visiting the Royal Observatory Greenwich, why not take a stroll under the Thames?
The Greenwich Foot Tunnel isn’t exactly a tourist attraction; in fact, it is a bit dank and smelly, but it’s always fun to explore the underbelly a city like London.
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Royal Institution of Great Britain
COORDINATES: 51.508479, -0.133222
NEAREST TUBE STATION: Green Park
Get Directions
Photo Credit: Tim Mitchell | Royal Institution
Royal Institution of Great Britain
COORDINATES: 51.508479, -0.133222
Sadly, the
RIGB is an often-overlooked attraction in London because the Institution has played an instrumental role in science as we know it.
Founded in 1799, the Royal Institution’s purpose was ‘diffusing the knowledge, and facilitating the general introduction, of useful mechanical inventions and improvements; and for teaching, by courses of philosophical lectures and experiments, the application of science to the common purposes of life.’
Michael Faraday (who invented the electric motor) is the primary star of the show here and so you can expect much of the focus to be on his achievements, but that is no bad thing.
Geekiness practically seeps out of the walls and it's difficult not to be transported back in time as you imagine Faraday giving one of his famous Christmas Lectures.
NEAREST TUBE STATION:
Green Park
“There are 10 types of people in the world:
those who understand binary, and those who don't.”
Photo Credit: ©Google Jul 2014
Odeon BFI IMAX
COORDINATES: 51.504803, -0.113624
IMAX is more than a ridiculously big screen; everything about it is larger than life. The film used to create IMAX movies is 10 times larger than that of standard film. The camera is immense too, weighing 109kg, yet it is only able to hold a three-minute’s worth of film and takes 20 minutes to reload. For movie geeks, it just doesn’t get any better than IMAX.
If you’re planning a visit to the
Science Museum (well worth a trip if you are a geek), it has its own IMAX theatre but if you’re after the geekiest experience, head over to
Odeon’s BFI IMAX just north of Waterloo Station. The screen is the largest in Britain at 20m high and 26m wide. The 12,000w digital surround sound system is calibrated specifically to each film shown. The cinema is right in the middle of a busy roundabout and has an underground line just four metres below it; but the geeks have taken care of this by building the entire structure on anti-vibration bearings.
NEAREST TUBE STATION:
Waterloo
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“I would love to change the world, but they won't give me the source code.”
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The National Museum of Computing
COORDINATES: 51.998508, -0.743784
HOW TO GET THERE: Take a 30 minute train ride from Euston Station to Bletchley
Get Directions
The National Museum of Computing
COORDINATES: 51.998508, -0.743784
Alan Mathison Turing (the father of computer science) and Timothy John Berners-Lee (the father of the World Wide Web) — two names that virtually everyone attending Interop London will be familiar with — were both born right here in London.
Of course, computer science and the Web belong to the world now, but if the geek in you feels like paying homage to these two great men, it may be worth jumping on a train to
The National Museum of Computing in Milton Keynes, about 30 minutes north of central London. The site of the museum is arguably more geeky than the museum itself. Block H, Bletchley Park, was the central site of the United Kingdom's Government Code and Cypher School during World War II and home to Turing’s bombe device, which helped to decipher the Enigma code. It was also home to Colossus, the world’s first programmable computer.
Both of these machines paved the way for the world we live in today and full replicas can now be seen at the museum. Throw in the Elliott 803 and 905, a huge ICL 2966 mainframe from the 1980s and enough old school PCs to cause nostalgic overload, and you’ve got a one-way ticket to geek’s paradise.
HOW TO GET THERE:
Take a 30 minute train ride from Euston Station to Bletchley
Forget the tour bus—
Take a walking tour with Laurence
Instead of following the herd, peering through the gates of Buckingham Palace or staring at a papier-mâché cow in the Tate Modern, why not get off the beaten track by taking a walking tour with Laurence?
A trained engineer and a self-confessed geek, Laurence takes his guests back in time and explores some of the lesser known facts about this historic city. With tours geared towards science and invention, secret intelligence, social history and London's historic infrastructure, there is a bit of something for every geek; he even has a tour which focuses on the famous (and not so famous) ‘lady geeks’ of London.
Laurence does scheduled and private tours. To see what is on the agenda, head over to
Eventbrite and take a look.
HOW TO FIND HIM:
Check His Agenda“Tours cover subjects that others do not and vice versa, providing an alternative and unusual view of London.”
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iPilot Flight Simulator
COORDINATES: 51.507269, -0.223095
NEAREST TUBE STATION: Shepherd's Bush
Get Directions
iPilot Flight Simulator
COORDINATES: 51.507269, -0.223095
Virtual reality is undergoing something of a renaissance at the moment, with many of the big vendors working on their own iteration of a third dimension.
If you feel like taking off for a while, head over to the Westfield London. This shopping centre happens to house the
iPilot Flight Simulator. This isn’t just any old flight simulator – it is the real deal; the very same system used to train bona fide pilots. At £109 a pop, it is not a cheap experience, but if you are a VR geek or a flight nerd (and let’s be honest, who isn’t?), this is well worth a crack.
NEAREST TUBE STATION:
Shepherd's Bush
“Interop London will connect the global IT community at ExCel from 16-18 June.”
Flux Innovation Lounge
COORDINATES: 51.502611, -0.072009
Are you the type of technology geek whose heart gets all a-flutter when it comes to trying out emerging and disruptive technology in person?
Flux LDN could be just the destination for you. Flux LDN is an innovation lounge and a space for ideas. It allows brands and agencies to explore the potential of emerging technologies through hands-on interaction. Focusing on 4 insights: retail, brand, marketing suits and digital collaborative working environments – your journey around the lounge is tailored to focus on your particular need.
Entrance to the Innovation Lounge is by invite only, but it is playing host to a couple of events during London Technology Week, so this could be your opportunity to get on the guest list. Keep an eye on the
London Technology Week events listing to stay up-to-date with events as they are announced.
NEAREST TUBE STATION:
Aldgate East and Tower Gateway
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