This is a profile from the 2022 version of the DataIQ 100.
The latest list is available here.
Damian Smith, chief technology officer, Podium Analytics
What has been your path to power?
After doing a degree in Computer Science at Bradford University, I worked in a number of defence roles before going civilian. From then to the present day, I would divide my career into three chapters:
Firstly, I started out as a technical consultant with data, analytics and information management technology providers where I built data warehouses and analytics systems in a variety of sectors including defence, healthcare, telecoms and financial services.
The second chapter of my career saw me move into management consulting, initially with KPMG Consulting, and then as an independent management and strategy consultant where I gained exposure to huge projects and business transformations in an even wider variety of sectors, including financial regulation and financial services including retail and investment banking, London market and retail insurance, mining and petrochemicals, media, sport and many others.
The third and current chapter of my career is in senior management roles in technology and data where I’ve been lucky enough to sit on some incredible leadership teams and put it all into practice, in financial services, fast moving consumer goods and latterly in sport. Here at the Podium Analytics, an NGO, we get to combine all of our collective knowledge of elite sport, academic research, medicine, artificial intelligence and machine learning, data and analytics, bio-engineering and innovation to solve a very timely and important challenge - making sport safer and helping people to enjoy a life-long association with sport.
What impact has the pandemic had on demand from your clients?
Podium is a start-up, and was two people strong when the pandemic started. Our initial recruitment and building of the team was conducted under lockdown, and depending on when they joined, team members went months before meeting each other face-to-face. Our clients include schools and sports clubs, where we monitor sporting activity and injuries through the use of data collection technologies ranging from apps to video and wearables. Our biggest challenge was that, during the pandemic, there was no school and there was no sport, so it was impossible to get practical feedback on our apps and platforms.
Since schools have returned, they have had the almighty challenge of simply managing day-to-day activity in the face of ever-changing Covid rules, recommendations and protocols, and we have had to be very respectful that Podium is not their number one priority. Despite this, we have been astonished at how helpful, motivated and committed teachers, headteachers, coaches and pupils have been to the Podium mission, and we have continued to make dramatic progress over the last 12 months. The pandemic has definitely cast into the spotlight the importance of the health and wellbeing of young people and what life is like without sport.
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