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日本語At the beginning of 2023 I posted an article to highlight some of the things happening with CodeComplete that may not be obvious from our usual information sharing on our website, Facebook, LinkedIn etc. It was my intention to update this every 3 months or so but here were are already well into 2024 before I finally managed to get around to it. There is so much I could write about but here are what I consider the highlights.
1) We’ve had a great year in terms of new customers and new projects – we are currently running 22 projects with 17 customers in 8 countries (Japan, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, US, UK, Vietnam, Indonesia). Some highlights:
- A new project focusing on solutions for hospitals in Vietnam (and going forward other countries in SE Asia), to create a system to support triaging and digital health record augmentation. The system can save the hospitals time and money, and through that contribute to improving the quality of care offered to patients in areas of the world where even small improvements can have a huge impact.
- Starting on a new venture for using AI to provide contract analysis tools for niche insurance services. CodeComplete is the main developer and also shareholder the new business, working with other business owners who are experts in the industry. Details are still under discussion and confidential, but we think this is going to be a real game-changer.
- Many other interesting new projects we’ve been involved with includes – digital transformation for funeral-related services, getting into pet health related services, as well as working with a customer on a new platform to support dementia patients and their carers.
2) We have also announced a couple of new partnerships this year that will hopefully help us to grow our business in different areas. One is the reseller agreement for Japan with DataMasque a security solution start-up based in Auckland that has had a great year with new funding and recognition from AWS at last year’s relevant event. We also formalized an agreement with The Code Font New Zealand for sales support in New Zealand – we have been working for more than 5 years with the Code Font team in other capacities and they already provided sales opportunities which led to new customers in New Zealand, so we look forward to further success with this relationship.
3) One of the most exciting developments this year has been the initiative this year to support pre-seed/seed stage start-ups with a package of investment and software development. As of Jan 2024 we have invested into 5 companies – 2 healthcare related companies, a SaaS service for Veterinary Hospitals, a b2b video streaming service and an AI research firm focusing on solutions for manufacturing, logistics, and other industries. Our criteria for deciding which companies to invest in is based on multiple factors and potential synergies – probably the most important of these is an appreciation of what all these companies are trying to achieve in terms of solving real life issues, and creating tangible value for society, not just for share holders. Apart from capital investment, CodeComplete is providing other functions such as software development, technical and business consulting, and local market (Japan, Vietnam) representation for the companies we invest in.
4) Regarding our CSR projects, it was a quiet year for the Purple House Facebook community for people with epilepsy and families/carers of people with epilepsy in Vietnam, due to lack of bandwidth, but we are discussing with 2 companies about joining this initiative so we hope to see the community continue to grow and flourish in 2024. Special Kids project was also quite quiet, but we are working on a roadmap for new technology to support this through 2024
5) In terms of external factors, the big (huge) leap this year has been the mainstreaming of AI/ML, especially generative AI. It’s hard to predict fully the impact on our industry (our society, even), with risks as well as as benefits, but we have been working hard to incorporate new services and tools into all our day-to-day activities so we can work more productively and offer more value.
6) Finally, in 2023 we extended and remodeled the Vietnam office, and we now have over 1000m2 floorspace with 360 degrees views of the beautiful city of Da Nang. We are especially proud of the improved facilities for the care of our staff – a nursing room for the needs of our (many!) new mothers, which can also double as an medical room for all staff, an much larger free area for the team to eat lunch together, bringing back of the ping-pong table. We are continuing to improve the environment with wall paintings, and arts and crafts representing Japanese and Vietnamese traditions.
We are now in our 9th year of operation as CodeComplete (8th year in Vietnam) – each year the challenges are bigger but so are the rewards. For me the most satisfying thing is to see how we are evolving beyond just basic software service and getting directly involved with creating value through our own initiatives and through the support for start-ups. Looking forward to see what the rest of 2024 will bring to us, hope you all have a great year too!