History of Kingdom Technology
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the people of Central and Eastern Europe needed to bring their economies up to the levels of the developed world. They needed quality assurance, commercial principles and skills, as well as the latest technology.
At that time, people in ex-Communist countries thought of business as being inevitably corrupt. So they also needed a better ethical basis for business. The research work, “Built to Last” and the work of the Centre for Tomorrow’s Company, notably its paper “The Inclusive Approach and Business Success – the Research Evidence” both showed that an ethical business was more successful than one dedicated solely to profit.
In 1990, Robin Hirsch received a prophecy from a stranger that he should dedicate four years of his life to people in Central and Eastern Europe. After some reflection, he gave up his job at A T Kearney and set up Kingdom Technology with the twin aims of bringing the charismatic dimension of Christianity into the lives of as many people as possible, and helping local enterprises to become globally competitive and run their businesses according to moral and ethical principles.
Kingdom Technology worked initially from an office in Poland, then in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the Ukraine. Many miraculous healings took place as well as better relationships between churches. In business, Kingdom Technology worked with companies such as Digital Equipment, Oracle and UK-based accounting firms to bring good management practices and modern information systems into many enterprises – food companies, breweries, mines and electricity companies.
In 1992, Robin Hirsch joined other consultancies founding the Railway Technology Strategy Centre in Imperial College (later re-named the Railway & Transport Strategy Centre –with the same initials RTSC). The first project was a technology acquisition strategy, which saw British Rail turn BR Research into consultancies such as AEA Technology and Interfleet, who both then gained a profitable international client base.
In 1994, the CoMET benchmarking group of metro railways was formed with Robin Hirsch of Kingdom Technology as its project manager. This regular metro benchmarking work now includes about 28 railways, including almost all the largest metros of the world. Robin Hirsch then initiated benchmarking projects for national railways such as DB AG, Trenitalia, RENFE and other European railways. Irish Rail used the RTSC’s benchmarking input as a critical basis for their new corporate strategy.
The RTSC became the main channel for Kingdom Technology’s work, though in 1999, Robin Hirsch also helped to found the Centre for Research in Information Systems (CARIS) in Kingston University. Since 2003, this has operated as CARIS Research Ltd.
Kingdom Technology’s other clients are mainly, but not always in the railway sector. During 2004-6, Robin Hirsch worked as MTR Corporation’s Business Development Manager (Europe), developing its European market entry strategy, which led eventually to successful franchise bids for the London Overground and the Stockholm metro. A major 2007 Kingdom Technology project was for KCR Corporation in Hong Kong. In 2008, we worked for Siemens in Asia, for Atkins in Europe and for Melcom Group, who operate the largest chain of department stores in Ghana.