As part of ITL’s commitment to encouraging all of our employees to develop themselves personally and professionally Dylan Sumner, a member of our Research Team travelled to sunny San Francisco to attend an industry conference.

As you may imagine, I was more than content to swap whatever passed for summer in the UK this year for a nice, little Californian holiday. The conference was centered on machine learning and data mining, and despite its idyllic location, it was a great opportunity to build up my knowledge in this area of Data Science.

I flew over in the second week of August and settled in for five days of Sun, Sea and Science at one of the most prestigious conferences in the field. The conference took place at the San Francisco Hilton and featured talks from a huge number of major players in the industry including Microsoft, Google, Uber, DeepMind and Amazon. In addition to speakers from the corporate world, there were guests from the world of academia, from such renowned institutions as the University of Oxford, Stanford University and MIT. This mix of academics and practitioners gave a well-rounded perspective on the topics discussed and actually opened my eyes to ways of thinking that I wouldn’t have previously been aware of.

The conference featured a big focus on the most recent cutting-edge algorithms and techniques in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Statistics, and Mathematics. The great thing about attending a conference like this, is that you get to get to experience the unveiling of all these brand new concepts for the first time before anyone else.

Now you may be thinking “Dylan, how can these algorithms be interesting and relevant to a normal non-maths geek like myself?” Good question! These algorithms are crucial to exciting innovations such as Uber’s self-driving car and Amazon’s impending drone delivery army. Maybe it just appeals to my scientific side but it truly is fascinating to see how these technological advancements are developed. Not all the talks were so technical, there were various discussions on the impact of technology on society, and other ethical considerations.

For me, the aspect of the conference that was the most pleasant surprise was just being able to meet industry peers and chat about what they were up to. There were workshops and tutorial opportunities outside of the keynote speeches, where I was able to delve slightly more deeply into the subject areas that interested me and network with top industry figures.

It was a great experience to immerse myself in this area of research and I’m sure it will continue to provide benefits to my future career.

Find out more about opportunities in our Science and Research Team here

Innovative Technology Ltd. (ITL) is delighted to announce the appointment of Enrique Jütten, VP of Sales & Business Development - Gaming, Amusement, Vending.

With more than 20 years’ experience in the gaming industry, Enrique has worked in a number of sales roles during his career. Based in Germany, Enrique will oversee ITL’s GAV business, as the leading cash handling equipment manufacturer continues to expand its product range and customer base.

Commenting on his appointment Enrique said, “I have been aware of ITL since the mid-90s when I worked with their Smiley NV2 and NV4 validators. ITL’s products have always impressed so when I got the opportunity to join the company I did not hesitate. I have known Aidan, Mustapha, Marcus and Tony for some time, I’m excited to be part of the team and look forward to contributing towards the company’s growth plans.

Sales Director, Marcus Tiedt said “I am pleased to welcome Enrique to the team and I know his long standing industry experience will be of great benefit to our customer base. His appointment signifies our continued commitment to our core Gaming, Amusement and Vending market.”

Customers will be able to meet Enrique at the upcoming BEGE next month and then ICE 2017 on the Innovative Technology stand.

With the £5 polymer note now in our change all attention turns to the new 12 sided £1 coin that will enter circulation next Spring in March 2017. The current £1 coin was first issued in 1983 and having been in circulation for over 30 years is one of the oldest British coins still in circulation. Over time, it has become increasingly vulnerable to counterfeiting so from March 2017 our beloved pound coin will be replaced by a new 12-sided, bi metallic, thinner £1 coin which will become the most secure circulating coin in the world. The Royal Mint is producing more than 1.4 billion of the new coins in advance of its March 2017 introduction. There will be a six-month period of co-circulation until Autumn 2017 when the current £1 will be removed from circulation and cease to be legal tender.

Coin Specification

All businesses that accept cash need to plan in advance for the introduction of the new £1 coin, to ensure they are prepared before it’s official release. Our coin handling devices the SMART Hopper and SMART Coin System have undergone extensive testing and we foresee no complications for Operators after the new £1 coin enters circulation. All ITL coin handling equipment will need to be updated and ITL currency datasets are freely available now via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or from our website.

Key Dates

March 2017 – New £1 coin launched

Autumn 2017 – End of co-circulation period and demonetisation of the round £1 coin

Second half of 2017 – Polymer £10 launched

Visit www.thenewpoundcoin.com for more information

Did you know?

The pound coin (£1) was introduced in 1983 to replace the Bank of England £1 banknote which was discontinued in 1984.

The designs on the one pound coin change annually in a largely five-year cycle.

All modern coins feature a profile of the current monarch's head. The direction in which they face changes with each successive monarch, a pattern that began with the Stuarts.

From a very early date, British coins have been inscribed with the name of the ruler of the kingdom in which they were produced, and a longer or shorter title, always in Latin.

In the years since decimalisation, a number of changes have been made to the GBP coinage. The twenty pence (20p) coin was introduced in 1982 to fill the gap between the 10p and 50p coins.

A circulating bimetallic two pound (£2) coin was introduced in 1998. There had previously been unimetallic commemorative £2 coins which did not normally circulate.

We are pleased to announce the appointment of two new VP of Sales & Business Development; Thorsten Labusch and Enrique Jütten.

Thorsten has worked at ITL for over 15 years and will head up the company’s Retail, Kiosk and Banking division. Enrique joins the Company as VP of Sales & Business Development - Gaming, Amusement and Vending and brings with him over 20 years of industry experience.

Mustapha Hadj-Ahmed, Group Sales Director commented, “We are very pleased to welcome Enrique to our commercial team and congratulate Thorsten on his new role. These new positons will allow us to continue to grow as a business, adapt to changing market demands and ensure that we can maintain the best possible level of support for our expanding customer base.”

November marks the return of the Balkan Entertainment & Gaming Expo (BEGE) to the Inter Expo Center in Sofia Bulgaria. Innovative Technology Ltd. (ITL) will again be demonstrating their impressive range of cash handling products for the Gaming & Amusement sectors.

ITL’s Business Development Manager for Eastern Europe, Lina Trofimow said “We participated at BEGE last year, and had such a positive experience that it was an easy decision to return to the show this year. The Balkan region continues to grow at a remarkable rate and it has become an attractive region for companies to develop their business.”

At this year’s show, Innovative Technology will be showcasing their range of SMART products, which include the SMART Payout - unrivalled mixed denomination note recycler, and the SMART Ticket, a versatile banknote validator and printer. Innovative Technology, together with their subsidiary InnoPrint will also be presenting a number of ticket printing solutions, including the compact CR-158 coupon printer, the FBF-166 flatbed printer, and the recently launched InnoHub, a device to convert any machine to become TITO-ready.

Lina continued “We are excited to use BEGE 2016 as a platform to promote our growing number of ticketing products. The growth of TITO technology is continuing at a rapid pace due to increased convenience for both operators and customers. Innovative Technology is well positioned to meet these particular needs as evidenced by the creation of our own subsidiary, InnoPrint, to focus solely on ticketing product development.”

ITL will be exhibiting at stand 3.3 at the show, so be sure to pay a visit if you are attending.

Innovative Technology (ITL), together with its subsidiary company InnoPrint received a very positive reception from show visitors at the Autumn Coin-Op show in London. The show held at Chelsea FC from 12^th – 13^th October 2016, featured a number of prominent companies from the UK coin-op industry. ITL and InnoPrint were at the show to promote their cash handling range and in particular their ticketing solutions.

Speaking at the event Andy Bullock, Business Development Manager said, “Autumn Coin-Op is always a relaxed event and a great opportunity to catch up with industry colleagues. Last year’s show was a great event for us and we were delighted to see the same, high level of interest in our product range this year. Wednesday was really busy and we found ourselves speaking with new and existing customers all day. Updating for the new £5 polymer was still a hot topic and our compact note validator and ticket printer, NV12+ drew a lot of attention as well as the bulk coin feeder, hopper and recycler the SMART Coin System.”  

ITL used ACOS to officially launch Live Ticket+ their new ‘Ticketing made easy’ system. A unique, integrated TITO implementation service that removes the hassle of incorporating ticketing capabilities to gaming machines, Live Ticket+ incorporates cash handling peripherals from Innovative Technology, TITO conversion hardware from InnoPrint, and installation services from InnoServ. More information on Live Ticket + can be found on-line at www.liveticketplus.com

InnoPrint Development Director, Chris Robinson who was at the show on Wednesday commented, “Visitors to the stand were impress with the combined note validator and ticket printer, SMART Ticket, that eliminates the need to purchase a separate printer for their machines. TITO is now at the forefront of operators’ minds and Live Ticket+ has undoubtedly caught the attention of a lot of this year’s show visitors. The interest in TITO increases year on year, however installation and configuration is usually a hurdle to overcome. Live Ticket+ resolves this issue and aims to stimulate widespread adoption of TITO technology. Customers can choose between a number of high quality ticketing solutions from ITL, including the SMART Ticket for large note applications; and the NV12+, a more compact option for operators with limited space considerations.”

The next UK industry event for Innovative Technology will be EAG in January 2017.