Four Digital Catapult centres are being setup across the UK the first opened on the 6th November 2014 in King’s Cross- London by Ed Vaizey MP, Minister for the Digital Economy. The other centres will be based in Brighton, Bradford and Sunderland.
Aim-Digital Catapult centres are being setup to rapidly advance the UK’s digital ideas and accelerate the UK’s digital growth; these centres will generate thousands of new jobs and drive innovation at a local level creating millions in linked investment and future funding by 2025.
The Digital Catapult Centre Brighton will open in March 2015 providing a place where start-ups and small businesses in the creative and technology sectors can develop and showcase their digital ideas and products. Businesses will also be able to use it to connect and collaborate with larger businesses, universities and public sector organisations. The centre will host a high bandwidth connection and link with the other Digital Catapult Centres.
Coast to Capital LEP will be leading on the Brighton Digital Catapult Centre in collaboration with the Core Delivery Partners- the University of Brighton and Wired Sussex and Project Partners- American Express, Brighton & Hove City Council and Gatwick Airport. The projects will focus specifically on encouraging innovation and value from real-time and location-based data (the Internet of Place).
The Digital Catapult will initially support Coast to Capital and its partners with resources and collaborative support of up to £500,000. This includes the cost of setting up the local Digital Catapult Centre, costs for developing and delivering projects agreed and aligned with the Catapult’s focus areas and for use of Catapult resources to support engagement and initiatives.
Tim Wates, Chairman of Coast to Capital LEP said “Coast to Capital LEP is really excited to have been chosen to host a Digital Catapult Centre. Our proposal was created with the active engagement of universities, large international businesses, SMEs and start-ups and we believe that is why it delivered an approach which was both innovative and grounded. Our ‘Internet of Place’ approach puts people and their actions centre-stage in the creation, evaluation and use of data. It takes us beyond the Internet of Things by focusing on the real-time context in which data is generated. We are confident that the work our Centre undertakes will open up opportunities to create genuine value and competitive advantage, not just for the Coast to Capital region but nationwide.”
By 2018, the Digital Catapult will have spent £46m in projects to boost the UK digital economy; this is an agile process, meaning each project is continuously evaluated to determine whether further investment will unlock even greater economic value.
For more information about the Digital Catapult’s project’s and programmes click here to visit the website.