A smart city with a reputation for investment success

Feature

Paul Keenan, from the NewcastleGateshead Initiative, details Newcastle’s development as a smart city, following the city’s success in the recent global Smart City Index

Newcastle’s contribution to the last industrial revolution is well documented and today it plays an equally significant role in the 21st century digital and tech revolution underway in the UK.

According to the Levelling Up Power Tech League 2021, the city is now one of the fastest growing tech clusters in the UK, and in 2021 became the highest-ranking UK city in the global Smart City Index (2021), ahead of many of the world’s best-known cities, and surpassing both London and Manchester.

The Smart City Index offers a balanced take on the economic and technological aspects of smart cities and more humane dimensions of urban living, such as quality of life and inclusiveness. The Index surveys approximately 120 residents from each city on how technology has improved their lives

The Digital Leaders Award praised Newcastle for its collaborative approach and innovative use of technology across the city to deliver services more efficiently and make life more liveable.

Nick Forbes, leader of Newcastle City Council, said: “Newcastle is now recognised as a world class, smart city, where technologies are being used to help solve economic, social and environmental challenges, and we want to do more. Today, Newcastle is home to some of the world’s best and brightest organisations and businesses when it comes to pioneering technological research and we are constantly striving to implement new technologies, for the benefit of our city and its residents.

“Many of the projects, businesses, and research that have helped the city gain a global reputation for smart city innovation are showcased on the NCLEUS website and are based at Newcastle Helix, the city’s iconic £350 million global centre for urban innovation, which brings together academia, the public sector, communities, business and industry in the heart of the city. It is a unique public and private sector partnership between Legal & General, Newcastle City Council and Newcastle University.”

Since 2020, Newcastle Helix has been home to three National Innovation Centres on Data, Ageing and Energy Systems Integration.

Also based on site is Newcastle University's Urban Observatory, which maintains the largest set of publicly available real time urban data in the UK and their computer science department that is top ranked in the UK for research impact.

Equally important, Newcastle Helix is home to LightOx, a company developing oral cancer treatments; they have joined the vibrant life sciences cluster along with Nanovery, who are using nanorobotic technology to improve the diagnosis of some of the world’s most serious diseases.

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) is based in The Catalyst in offices alongside the National Innovation Centre for Data, which specialises in AI and data science, with its close proximity to the city’s universities allowing the organisation to tap into the region’s talent pipeline which includes a high proportion of STEM and computing students.

Newcastle’s position in the smart city rankings is testament to its willingness and ability to go out and compete on a world stage, with the ambition of making the region a leading destination to live, work and invest.

Jen Hartley, director of Invest Newcastle, whose team have secured much of the significant inward investment for the city, said: “Our strengths lie across video games, e-commerce, software development, data analytics and immersive technologies. Tech networks like Dynamo North East and Digital Union are accelerating the development of these clusters, including our games cluster–the fourth largest in the UK.

“Our £2 billion plus industry employs over 40,000 people in 3,000 plus creative and digital businesses. We’re future-proofing this vibrant sector with initiatives from the North East Futures UTC, which teaches a specialist digital tech curriculum to 14–19-year-olds, to The Centre for Doctoral Training in Cloud Computing for Big Data PhD facility.”

Accenture, Epic Games, HMRC, RedHat, DWP, Sumo Games, Atom Bank, Tombola and Zerolight also operate in the region. Newcastle also has the highest proportion of STEM and computing students in the country.

The city is the centre of one of the fastest growing tech clusters in the UK, being home to FTSE 100 company Sage PLC, Ubisoft’s largest UK Games Studio and just last autumn (2021) the BBC announced its biggest investment in the North East of England for decades, as part of a new partnership with the region.

There has been an influx of digital and tech businesses moving to the city, creating hundreds of valuable jobs, and making a significant contribution to the economy. Recent investors include Tokyo-based Monstarlab, Chicago- headquartered Thoughtworks, and Leeds-based BJSS, with further announcements due. Confidence remains high that in2022, investor confidence in Newcastle’s tech sector will reach new heights with further steady and lasting growth that will benefit the whole region.

In autumn 2021 the BBC announced it will spend at least £25 million over the next five years, right across the North East, to fund network TV production, talent development and support for the creative sector.

It’s part of a deal with local authorities in the North East, who will work with the BBC, and with independent producers, to invest in talent, skills, and infrastructure to support the production industry in the region.

The partnership is part of the BBC’s commitment to do more across the UK by moving departments, commissioning power and resources out of London.

The BBC’s North East plans include:

A new BBC Daytime & Early Peak factual series produced from the North East.
A new creative partnership between BBC Three and BBC England to find and develop new factual TV ideas.
Award-winning BBC One documentary series Ambulance will follow the region’s emergency staff on the frontline for two series.
BBC Comedy will host a series of masterclasses and events across the North East to develop new talent and skills, while Newcastle will be the BBC’s first City of Comedy and will host this year’s New Comedy Awards.
In total, BBC TV will spend at least £25m in the North East over the next five years.
In addition, the BBC will create 70 digital jobs based at a new tech hub in Newcastle.

Jen Hartley of Invest Newcastle says the team will continue to seek out quality investments for the region in 2022 and beyond: “Despite our successes, we don’t rest on our laurels and will always look to secure further quality, inward investment, in key strategic and emerging sectors to add to the region’s growth and with it, secure many more, highly-skilled jobs for the region.”

Number of jobs new to the region’s creative and digital sector in 2021

860 new jobs in the Creative & Digital sector in 2021. The jobs come from both new investments into the city and expansions from companies already here.
New investors included BJSS, Thoughtworks, and Monstarlab.
Significant expansions included Refract and Opencast Software.

Number of new businesses and jobs predicted in 2021-22?