The nation’s most creative communities have been revealed in the UK Tech Innovation Index.
The UK Tech Innovation Index – published by the Digital Catapult and the Open Data Institute (ODI) – measures current activity and potential for creative innovation.
Although London has unsurprisingly been identified as the UK’s most creative city, Manchester, Edinburgh and Birmingham have a lot of creative potential to offer as well.
CEO at the Digital Catapult, Dr Jeremy Silver explained: “This research confirms and subverts wide-held views on the UK tech industry. While London continues to be a heavyweight player on the global tech stage – innovation is by no means confined to the capital.
“We’re seeing high potential clusters of innovation across the UK, linked to opportunities identified within the tech sector or aligned to universities or dominant regional industries. Our own Digital Catapult regional centres reflect this too.”
The research aims to offer a clearer picture of the UK innovation landscape, and help businesses and the public sector make better decisions around new investments and growth strategies.
The city rankings combine data from three sources: tech events, conferences and meet-ups; scientific and academic publications; and data on local skills measures, business start-up rates, and R&D spending.
Each UK city was appointed a scoring point, according to an algorithm, depending on metrics such as the percentage of people degree-level or equivalent qualifications and the amount of money being invested in innovation, for example.
- London (36.7)
- Manchester (4.4)
- Edinburgh (3.7)
- Birmingham (2.8)
- Glasgow (2.6)
- Cambridge (2.2)
- Oxford (2.1)
- Newcastle upon Tyne (1.9)
- Bristol (1.9)
- Reading (1.8)
- Brighton (1.8)
- Sheffield (1.8)
- Leeds (1.6)
- Belfast (1.5)
- Liverpool (1.4)
- Southampton (1.3)
- Cardiff (1.0)
- Milton Keynes (1.0)
- York (0.9)
- Coventry (0.9)
Tom Forth, head of data at ODI Leeds: “There are early signs of other new clusters emerging in other new fields, right across the country. The data behind these rankings is improving all the time, as more tech events are held, and more scientific papers are published. We hope that by sharing our research at this early stage we can learn from others and improve our techniques even more quickly.”
The UK’s biggest digital manufacturing show!
Liverpool and the North West’s advanced manufacturing is in the spotlight as the region plays host to 4000 manufacturers from across the country at Smart Factory Expo – the biggest digital manufacturing show in the country.
The UK’s largest standalone 4IR expo coincides with the government’s much anticipated Industrial Strategy, and features:
Dedicated Exhibition Zones – Industrial Automation, Digital Transformation, Smart Factories, Industrial Internet
Free conference content – 96 presentations from world-class manufacturers and technology experts over two days
Innovation Alley – lifting the lid on the UK’s manufacturing tech start-up scene
Hack & Pitch – real engineers, tackling real problems, in real time!
