Cyber Innovation Series 2022/23: MoFish

Working with small to medium sized companies (SMEs), their aim is to provide the technology needed so that non-techies can connect IT systems to cloud services.

The team behind MoFish will be attending the Cyber ASAP Demo Day on 22 February to present their pitch and demonstrate their Proof of Concept alongside the other 14 finalists.

Register here.

About MoFish

SMEs in areas such as research & development (R&D), arts & entertainment and criminal surveillance need to frequently update their IT stack with new data, analytical systems and assessment elements to test and evaluate new approaches and technologies.

And yet, over 60% of small software integration projects are severely delayed due to a lack of access to software developers. This can be commercially crippling for small businesses or small groups in large companies.

The number of AI solutions and services in the cloud are rapidly expanding, and so companies are increasingly needing access to these services – and more importantly change the tools they are connected to. Some people have to do these reconnections very frequently, but many are not IT experts or data analysts with coding experience.

As such, their current way of solving this is going to the IT department. However, with such a high volume of requests, delays are inevitable. As a result, people are putting up with old techniques or systems instead.

The team behind MoFish recognised that a solution was needed. People need an easier solution to connect these systems in a cyber safe manner, instead of people accepting the systems as they are.

Current options are hardwired and use a series of data links, but aren’t easily customisable by the end user and won’t necessarily meet their needs.

Other solutions on the market are either heavyweight tools requiring expensive specialists, lightweight tools requiring substantial software knowledge, or low-code tools requiring an entire IT-system architecture change.

Another problem they identified was for those seeking unique data or research. If everyone uses the same sources, how can they create something unique?

For example, a marketeer may wish to find an unmet need to address, but if they’re using the same data sources and analysis tools as everyone else, they’re going to end up doing the same as a competitor.

The team behind MoFish want to solve the problem whilst also inventing a new way of doing things. Currently in the R&D phase with initial prototypes developed and tested, MoFish is a web-app that allows people to register web services and connect them visually.

The key aim is to allow those with limited technical knowledge to use the system to add new cloud-based IT services themselves. Cybersecurity measures will also be embedded into the tool so it’s easy for users to stay alert on potentially dangerous connections.

The final system – although not the initial prototypes – will also be able to read the API (application programming interface) documentation and tell relatively IT-illiterate users what they need to create the connections. It aims to simplify the process and inform users what is or isn’t compatible with their system.

Meet the Mofish Team

MoFish is the brainchild of Kevin Maynard and a team of specialists from Oxford Brookes University, which is in the top 10 of royalty income earners for UK universities of this kind.

The Team has the commitment of about 300 people to test the prototype. Once this trial is complete and learnings are incorporated into the final product, the team has funding from their university to move the prototype to an MVP, and are looking for potential customers to offer feedback on a beta version.

They want to hear from end users who are interested in testing the MVP and understand their needs and barriers, in order to develop and improve their offering. The team are currently creating customised systems with the aim of producing a packaged system in the future.

The team consists of:

• Kevin Maynard, Principle Investigator and Director at the Institute for Ethical AI. Expert in business and product development, having previously bought 10 products from concept to market
• Mohamed Mohamed – Project Researcher and Senior post-doctoral researcher at the Institute for Ethical AI. Experience leading an expert technology team and developing an advanced surgical robot
• Ivan Fursa – Software Engineer with experience leading projects, facilitating academic research, raising funding and developing software

Meet them at our Demo Day

Join us on Wednesday 22 February 2023 and be among the first to preview the team’s innovation, alongside a whole host of exciting cyber products and services from leading UK academic teams. Hear their pitches and learn more about each project in this unique showcase of ready-to-commercialise cyber innovations. Register here.

About CyberASAP

CyberASAP (Cyber Security Academic Startup Accelerator Programme) is the only pre-seed accelerator programme in the cyber ecosystem which provides expertise, knowledge and support to convert academic research into commercial products and services.

CyberASAP is funded by the UK Government Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT) and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK and Innovate UK KTN.