East London Tech City (informally Tech City) is a technology hub located in London, United Kingdom.[1][2][3] Tech City broadly occupies the part of London's East End between Old Street and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford.[1] Cisco Systems, Facebook, Google, Intel Corporation, McKinsey & Company and Vodafone are among the companies which have committed to invest in the hub.[4] Imperial College London, Loughborough University and University College London have agreed to be academic partners of the hub.[5] The hub is modelled on Silicon Valley in the United States.[1]
Contents |
In 2008, there were around 15 high-tech companies in close proximity of the Silicon Roundabout, which forms the heart of Tech City. Plans to help accelerate the growth of the hub were announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in a speech given in east London on 4 November 2010.[4] A year later, Cameron announced that he was appointing entrepreneur Eric van der Kleij to lead the initiative.[6] By 2011, approximately 200 high-tech firms were occupying the area, signifying a rapid increase in interest.[7]
Barclays has agreed to create a new facility to provide specialist banking services to technology companies based in Tech City.[5] BT has agreed to accelerate the roll-out of superfast broadband in the hub area.[5] Cisco Systems has agreed to establish an Innovation Centre in the Olympic Park focusing on technical excellence.[5] Facebook has agreed to create a base for their Developer Garage programme in the hub.[5] Google has agreed to create an Innovation Hub in East London to develop next-generation applications and services (whilst retaining its UK headquarters in central London).[5] Imperial Innovations, the technology-transfer company of Imperial College London, has agreed to advise on the creation of an accelerator space for spinout companies at the Olympic Park.[5] Intel Corporation has agreed to establish a new research lab in the hub focusing on performance computing and new energy efficiency technologies. Loughborough University and University College London have agreed to work with the Olympic Legacy Company to establish a bridge between academia and enterprise in the Olympic Park.[5] McKinsey & Company has agreed to provide advice on the creation of the hub and to help to new companies starting out in the area.[5] Qualcomm has agreed to provide intellectual property advice to start-up companies based in the hub.[5] Silicon Valley Bank has agreed to establish a UK-based bank to provide financing for technology and life science companies based in the hub.[5] Vodafone has committed to bring its Vodafone Ventures investment fund to the hub.[5]
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||