One plus one equals three (or more!)
goPassport is a shining example of the power of the AlphaZetta analytics network. A newly equity crowdfunded startup, goPassport is a bio-security digital solution that manages travel risk in the post pandemic world. How it came about is the one plus one equals three of the AlphaZetta collaboration model.
AlphaZetta was founded to enable experts to collaborate virtually across the world to create innovative value propositions and new technologies rapidly and with little cost; to enable experts to ‘break free, and disrupt’. By providing a company backbone to the world’s best, AlphaZetta is a business partner that helps talented individuals access global reach and deep specialist expertise.
AlphaZetta was founded by a group of colleagues who have worked together in the data analytics, real-time analytics and data visualization space. That network extends to a core group of other companies, all of whom are innovating in digital transformation and data-driven business solutions.
One of the great projects that has come out of the adversity of Covid-19 is goPassport. The project started when Matt McKinley, the founder of one of our stablemate companies Didgigo received notice that the ITB conference in Berlin was to be cancelled at short notice due to the breaking pandemic. Matt immediately realised that this was going to change travel, possibly forever, similar to the way 9-11 changed airport security.
The first call Matt made, as described in the ‘Taking on the new normal with technology’ blog , was to Dr John Shephard who has significant experience in dealing with pandemics. Realising the solution was going to be digital and based on data analytics and bio-security risk, Matt brought in AlphaZetta to help. Mark Radford and Tony Ohlsson (AlphaZetta founders), sourced volunteer expertise from AlphaZetta in border security, risk management, data science and data engineering.
The newly assembled team came from across the globe; from around Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Armenia, Switzerland, Denmark and Germany. The team were able to mobilise quickly and work completely virtually all through the various lockdowns to rapidly build the traveller risk modelling components for the goPassport solution. The team is a brilliant example of the power of collaboration within AlphaZetta.
Two companies emerged from the project. goPassport Australia Pty Ltd completed its equity crowdfunding in early December 2020 and now has 20 people developing their solution to help manage travel safely across national borders. The second company, Gopass Global Pte Ltd in Singapore, successfully attracted private equity in November 2020 and has a team of 15 people developing their risk analytics solution for corporate travel.
When we’re innovative and work together with colleagues and friends, we can design and create new solutions that can be truly transformative. This is something that one of our great AlphaZetta consultants in Australia, Craig Savage mentions in his advice to aspiring consultants in his AlphaZetta consultant video profile. The power of our business networks should not be underestimated.
goPassport and GOPASS Global have not only brought together a diverse team to create a timely and compelling solution, the project itself is a fantastic pivot for a group of consultants, many of whom had been stood down or were facing uncertainty due to the pandemic. Another great example of the power of a supporting team and network.
Every AlphaZettan has this capability – a network of experts to collaborate with on tap. They may not all be available to work, but many are interested in joining discussions and collaborating, remotely in most cases. As a virtual company, we were already set up to deal with the remote working realities of the pandemic in 2020.
We continue to love to hear from independent experts who wish to get involved in our fantastic team whether it’s data architecture, data engineering, data science, business transformation, consulting or robotic process automation. Or if you’re developing a company or solution in your own right and would like to see if you can join our stable we would love to hear from you too.
About goPassport
goPassport is an Australian company led by CEO Matt McKinley. The founding team encompasses expertise across health, travel, tourism, border security, international education and real-time analytics. We’ve created an end-to-end, digital solution to guide travellers, manage risk and monitor compliance to health and immigration policy.
About GOPASS Global
Gopass Global is a Singapore company led by CEO Mark Radford. GOPASS is a post-Covid travel risk management platform that uses advanced analytics to manage corporate travel duty of care. The GOPASS platform provides an end-to-end view of all the aspects of an employee’s travel and their risk of exposure in the cycle of travel.
Main image: Some of AlphaZetta’s leaders on the goPassport team: Tony Ohlsson, Mark Radford, Gareth Roblin and Klaus Felsche.