Where will the next big tech innovation come from? It could be from London’s Connected Digital Catapult hub in Kings Cross
A new digital hub set to open in Kings Cross hosting businesses, technologists and researchers is aiming to produce the UK’s next big technological innovation.
The government is investing up to £10m in the project to fuel growth of the digital economy which is expected to be worth more than £10bn within the next 10 years.
The new Connected Digital Catapult is one of seven so-called Catapults designed to hot-house research and development in particular areas identified by the government as bringing future economic growth to the UK.
The new centre, which opens on the 5 November, will seek to connect large and small businesses, entrepreneurs, startups, and academic researchers, to collaborate on four key areas: personal data; the internet of things; building diverse data and the re-use of creative content.
The centre will act as a hub for product showcases, innovation labs, events and workshops to accelerate the development of digital products and services and is expected to involve 10,000 organisations and generate £365m by 2018.
Head of the digital catapult Neil Crockett said:
When trying to address major challenges, for example the Internet of Things in healthcare, businesses reach a point where they need help to cross some ‘chasms' on the way to bringing their products or services to market. It's at this point the Digital Catapult Centre will play a part. The UK is full of Universities and clusters where people think of great ideas and are given support. We want to complement that. We'll bring people together in collaborative development projects to unlock four challenges in the data value chain in order to accelerate digital innovators to market.
Further regional digital hubs will be established across the UK.
In addition to the digital economy, the multi-million-pound Catapult scheme part-privately and part-government funded through Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board) also includes hubs focused on cell therapy, future cities, high value manufacturing, offshore renewable energy, satellite applications and transport systems.
What will the new Connected Digital Catapult centre look like?
