The final two reports in the 12 Clusters of Tech series, focusing on the South East and London, have now been published.

Over the past twelve months, the UK Tech Cluster Group has worked in collaboration with London Tech Week to create a series of reports that explore the unique ecosystems and tech trends in every region of the UK. The objective of the campaign was to map the UK tech scene and provide a detailed overview of the specialisms, business success stories and emerging innovators that make the UK’s technology sector such an economic powerhouse.

The 12 reports cover the North East, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Yorkshire & the Humber, the North West, Wales, the West Midlands, East Midlands, East of England, the South West, South East and finally London. View and download the reports here.

London Tech Week 2021 takes place from the 20th to the 24th of September and promises to gather the world’s most inspirational founders, global leaders, senior investors and rising stars to collaborate and discuss the vital role of technology in society. The festival’s purpose is to showcase how tech is transforming both business and society by driving important conversations around transformation, diversity and innovation.

The South West is the latest region to be covered in the “12 Clusters of Tech” series produced by the UK Tech Cluster Group in collaboration with London Tech Week.

The report, which is the tenth in the series, covers:

• An overview of the tech landscape in South West of England
• Profiles on the Established Tech Leaders ( including Dyson, IMDb and Future Publishing)
• Scaleup Stories (the tech companies spearheading growth)
• Ones to Watch (uncover the rising stars…)
• Deep dive into the region’s cluster hotspots including Telecoms, CreaTech and Data/AI

The final two reports, to be published over the summer, will cover the South East and London. All of the reports published so far are available from the London Tech Week website.

£2m programme will help drive digital transformation in the North East.

Birmingham Tech CIC, the organisation responsible for promoting and coordinating the West Midlands Tech ecosystem, has joined the UK Tech Cluster Group (UKTCG), a group of organisations that work with and have a deep insight into geographical clusters of technology and digital businesses across the UK.

Birmingham Tech will now share knowledge from the West Midlands tech ecosystem, joining other regional tech clusters across the UK.

Yiannis Maos, CEO of Birmingham Tech commented:

“It’s great to be working with the UK Tech Cluster Group and we are very proud to be feeding in understanding of the West Midlands region. Through this new appointment, we will continue to work closely with our partners to ensure newfound insight and opportunities are shared – enabling an ecosystem built on collaboration and knowledge. This comes at an exciting time for the West Midlands tech cluster with EA’s recent acquisition of Codemasters for $1.2 billion and Goldman Sachs announcing they are to open a Tech Hub in Birmingham. Working with the UKTCG will also ensure we collectively make the case for more investment in our tech clusters.”

The organisations that make up the UKTCG are all focused on growing tech businesses, championing innovation and building stronger regional economies. Together, they work with thousands of companies and organisations, delivering regional programmes and events and connecting businesses with collaborators, funders and talent.

David Dunn, Chair of the UK Tech Cluster Group and CEO of Sunderland Software City, commented:

“It’s great to have Birmingham Tech join the UKTCG and have Yiannis join our team. We already have a wealth of insight from across the UK and having the West Midlands represented will only strengthen our knowledge and capability – making our voice even stronger at national level. Working alongside Birmingham Tech and our other representatives, we will continue to ensure that our regional tech clusters get the support they need to drive forward our regional economies.”

The UKTCG, in collaboration with London Tech Week, recently published the 12 Clusters of Tech report into the West Midlands which highlights some of the 13,000 tech firms employing over 100,000 people across the region. You can read the report here.

The Founders of Niyo Enterprise are empowering black women through technology by kick starting the ‘Black Disruptor’ Accelerator. Sponsored by the West Midlands Combined Authority, Niyo Network has secured a contract to facilitate Accelerator Bootcamps that are uniquely designed for the benefit of Black female business founders and Black females changing to careers in tech within the West Midlands. The first of these bootcamp accelerators will be launching in May 2021.

Black women are still heavily under-represented in IT & Tech roles; in comparison, across other occupations, their level of representation is 2.5 times higher (according to BCS chartered Institute for IT). The Black Disruptor Accelerator programme has been designed to specifically target this issue head on by taking on women who would not be able to afford learning to help them develop skills in AR & VR by offering training and providing job readiness for the tech industry for free.

Find out more about the ‘Black Disruptor’ Accelerator.

Building on the success of C4DI in Hull, the organisation is set to launch their second incubator next month.

Located in Northallerton, the new facility will be officially opened on 11th May during Hambleton Business Week.

C4DI Northallerton is an exciting new digital hub focused on helping tech companies grow and traditional businesses innovate within the agriculture, food processing and digital sectors.

Unique to C4DI’s model is the way in which traditional business is brought together with fast tech startups and scaleups through custom innovation programmes and startup incubation. This gives the traditional business access to skills and expertise it never knew it needed and gives tech companies unrivalled supply chain and mentor access.

One of the best things about the C4DI is the community of talented people it creates. From designers to hardware specialists, technologists, marketeers and developers, everyone works together to help businesses become more successful.

It is based on the district council’s new Treadmills development where the former Northallerton prison is being redeveloped into a centre for retail, business and leisure.

Read more about C4DI Northallerton.

Northern Ireland’s most exciting competition for innovative start-ups and entrepreneurs is back with a new and improved prize fund and brand new awards categories.

INVENT 2021 is officially open for applications, with an increased prize fund of £47,000 and a £25,000 first prize for the overall winner.

Organised by science and technology hub Catalyst with headline partner Bank of Ireland, INVENT is an annual celebration of the brightest new business ideas in the region, which supports, showcases and rewards the local innovations and proof of concept ideas that have the greatest commercial potential.

Categories for this year’s awards have been refreshed to resonate with global trends and help capture great ideas from across the full spectrum of innovation in Northern Ireland, while also aligning with the clusters Catalyst believes will drive the local economy in future.

Find out more about INVENT 2021.