A day in the life of: Sue Roberts

Necessity is the mother of invention

Has it really been seven years since Amatica became involved in sponsoring the Merseyside Innovation Awards?

The awards were created in 1996 to recognise and reward innovation within Merseyside - whether that be a new service, new product, new process or an innovative improvement to something that already exists and what a wealth of innovation there is out there!

As one of the twelve sponsors of the awards, my role also involves evaluating applications, mainly those with a technology or IT angle. Amatica also manages and hosts the website (www.merseysideinnovationawards.co.uk) which has just had a makeover this year.

I really do take my proverbial hat off to the applicants - innovation is no easy task. It's one thing to have a bright idea, but it's quite another to research and develop it, explore competitive advantages and bring it to market with or without the added complication of raising finance and funding.

Today I've spent the morning evaluating two of the latest applications, in preparation for our monthly planning meeting this afternoon. In the run up to the finals in July, the twelve sponsors meet every month, to finalise plans for the big day as well as decide which applicants will be shortlisted as a monthly winner.

Obviously, I can't reveal too much at this stage, but suffice to say, both of my applicants have an excellent chance of making it through to the next stage. The standard of applications seems to get better every year, proof if ever it were needed, that Merseyside is a hotbed of creativity!

It's not just new businesses though that need to innovate. At Amatica we've found that innovation is the key to managing a successful business and even staying in business when times are tough.

Keeping pace with changing technology and coming up with new and inventive ways to help our clients improve their internal processes and customer service is second nature to us.

It's amazing how innovation has shaped our lives, without us even realising to some extent. It seems impossible that we ever managed without mobile phones, airplanes and laptops.

But have they made our lives better or not? Well, being able to be contacted night or day does have its drawbacks but knowing that all our client servers and web-sites are running smoothly gives me a nice warm feeling! However when my daughter went away on a trip and wasn't allowed to take her mobile phone I felt as if my left arm had been cut off (although I suspect she liked the idea of being out of reach!). I did however get used to the idea that I could relax because I wouldn't have to fetch and carry for a week-end… maybe I should invent some more trips for her to go on!

Now, if only someone could invent something to slow the passage of time!