Shout Digital unveils in-house R&D tech hub

Shout founder and chief executive officer, Gary Boon said he wants to put the organisation at the front of the progression in fields such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality and iBeacons. Boon said: “Allowing the team to commit proper research and development time to understand how to apply these technologies in ways that offer obvious commercial benefit to our clients, is of vital importance."

“Agencies that deliver complex solutions, like Shout, will need to master these fields if they are to stay relevant. The lines are blurring between what people might commonly perceive as being technological and digital solutions. Digital agencies have a fantastic opportunity to take ownership of these areas and consult their clients effectively and knowledgeably” he added.

They say the development of the in-house technology hub will be free of client billing time and, Boon claims, will free up his team to think more expansively about the range of solutions at their fingertips.

Boon, who studied for a PhD in artificial intelligence as long as 15 years ago added: “The fact is, these so-called emerging technologies have been around for many years, but it is only now that we’re starting to see compatible hardware that starts to make developments in AI or AR commercially viable. I’m keen to balance the research and development time alongside on-going client projects to delve deeply into these fields.”

Shout works with clients such as Sage, P&G and OK! magazine.