Derry Software Firm in Poll Position in Great Britain
Modern Democracy, a leading elections software and services company based in Londonderry, has used Invest Northern Ireland support for Research & Development to develop its innovative polling day management software.
With a current focus on the GB market, Modern Democracy aims to transform the democratic process starting with Modern Polling, its cloud-based software product. The Modern Polling platform solves many key issues for Election Managers and Officials, by providing secure and faster processing of electors, continuous reporting of polling day issues, elections staff management, completion of ballot paper accounts and a host of other benefits.
Modern Polling was successfully deployed in the 2019 Council Elections at Sheffield City Council, Watford Borough Council, and at Mid-Sussex District Council.
Des Gartland (pictured left), Invest NI’s North West Regional Manager, said: “Modern Democracy is a great example of a company that recognises the value of investing in innovation and R&D. It has used our support to develop a platform which is digitally transforming the users’ voting experience, helping it to expand into new markets and create eight jobs in the North West region. The new roles will generate over £300,000 in additional annual salaries which is great news for the Derry City & Strabane District Council area and will enable the company to meet the growing demand for its products.”
Invest NI has offered £158,000 of support for R&D, the creation of eight new jobs, skills development, design and consultancy. The roles boast average salaries of over £37,000 and include management, sales, marketing and project management roles.
Carmel Quigg (pictured right), Account Director at Modern Democracy, said: “Our main ambition is to become the market leader in polling day digital solutions across GB. There is a strong demand to update traditional voting and polling methods and to connect with younger generations to encourage them to vote and participate in the democratic process. Using agile delivery techniques and centric design processes we have created a secure, transparent system to digitally transform traditional voting methods.
“We recognise the value of Invest NI’s assistance, particularly its R&D support, which has helped us develop a product which we are now selling in external markets. Through the innovation of Modern Polling, we are able to expand our workforce, which will in turn enable us to achieve further success.”
In December 2018 Modern Democracy also received a £750,000 investment from Crescent Capital and TechStart, both part of Invest NI’s Access to Finance portfolio of funds.
Invest NI’s R&D support, Crescent Capital Development Fund and TechStart NI are part financed by the European Regional Development Fund under the EU Investment for Growth and Jobs Programme 2014–2020.
