Big Technologies Regulatory News (BIG)

13 September 2021

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the company to constitute inside information stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR") and the retained UK law version of MAR pursuant to the Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/310) ("UK MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via the Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. For the purposes of MAR, UK MAR, Article 2 of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1055 and the UK version of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1055, the person responsible for releasing this announcement is Daren Morris, Chief Financial Officer of Big Technologies plc. 

Big Technologies plc

("Big Technologies" or the "Company" and the "Group") 

Buddi announced as preferred bidder for New Zealand Electronic Monitoring contract

Big Technologies plc, the UK-based, remote people monitoring technology company, is pleased to announce that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Buddi Limited ("Buddi"), has been selected as preferred bidder for the electronic monitoring contract by the New Zealand Department of Corrections ("Corrections"), with a maximum initial term of 5 years.

Any contract award remains subject to final negotiation and contract execution. Under the proposed contract, it is anticipated that Buddi will provide its electronic monitoring solution for more than 6,000 people across New Zealand, who are managed by Corrections. The contract is expected to start to generate revenue during the first half of 2022.

Sara Murray OBE, Founder and CEO of Big Technologies, said:

"I am delighted to announce this future partnership with the New Zealand Department of Corrections. This important new customer shares our vision to use innovative technology to drive efficiencies in electronic monitoring with the aim of keeping communities safe and changing the behaviour and lives of people they support. To be selected as preferred bidder for this prestigious national contract is a vote of confidence in our solutions and enhances our revenue visibility for the years ahead."

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About Big Technologies

Big Technologies is the parent company of Buddi, which was founded in 2005 by its current CEO, Sara Murray, following an initial idea to create a GPS device small enough for a child to carry. Today, Big Technologies is a proven supplier of innovative and high-quality products and services to the remote personal monitoring industry. Big Technologies provides products and services under a number of brand and trading names, with 'Buddi' being the most well-known and being used in respect of activities within the core criminal justice market. Big Technologies (under the buddi brand) has created a leading, integrated technology platform (including both hardware and software solutions) for remote monitoring of individuals, providing state-of-the-art Electronic Monitoring (EM) solutions on a SaaS-like, subscription basis.

Electronic Monitoring in the criminal justice sector involves utilising location technologies to remotely monitor and manage people at all stages of the criminal justice system. The Company's focus on the Criminal Justice market in the immediate term has been demand-driven, with significant opportunities created by a combination of favourable market tailwinds as electronic location devices are increasingly recognised as alternatives to imprisonment, and superior technological capability enabling the Company to meet this demand effectively.

Big Technologies' criminal justice solution has been iteratively developed over a 10-year period, utilising the knowledge of an experienced management team listening to customers. The solution consists of a proprietary software platform with modular monitoring hardware, capable of being adapted to multiple applications. The Company's criminal justice solution is principally focussed around the "Buddi Smart Tag", an electronic monitoring hardware device, and "Buddi Eagle", the in-house developed, cloud-based monitoring software. Collectively, the hardware and the intelligent tools integrated into Big Technologies' software enable real-time tracking of monitored individuals with high levels of accuracy and reliability. Buddi evidences a substantial reduction in false alerts when compared to competitor systems, which combined with the reduction in subsequent investigations can result in substantial cost savings for customers.

In addition to the high levels of accuracy, the Buddi Smart Tag has several key advantages over its competitors' devices. The tag is lighter, smaller, has longer battery life and offers a simple, contact free and shorter installation process, providing substantial staff cost savings for customers. This superior product design, coupled with the intelligent monitoring software, typically comes at a small price premium to competitor devices. However, the overall effectiveness and reliability of the solution, combined with the substantial cost savings delivered as a result of reduced monitoring costs, have helped Big Technologies deliver strong revenue growth from both existing and new customers. The Company leases its devices and software solutions to customers typically based on daily or monthly rates.