Flexible workspaces are in high demand due to the continued surge of hybrid working.
Sciontec has experienced a strong start to the year, thanks to a flurry of new lettings across its two Liverpool sites.
Seven businesses, working within the digital, technology and professional services sectors, have signed workspace leases with Sciontec at Liverpool Science Park (LSP) and the Sciontec AI serviced space in The Spine.
George Barclay, Acting Head of Property, FM and Operations at Sciontec, said: “It is fantastic to be experiencing such a high demand for our office and coworking spaces.
Coworking options, in particular, are becoming increasingly popular for businesses wanting flexibility from their workspaces, and our range of hot desk options provide a hybrid solution for those organisations requiring a mix of high quality workspaces alongside a dynamic business community, which are affordable and straightforward to manage.”
One of Sciontec’s new customers, MyCardium AI, has taken space at both of Sciontec’s locations. As a result of their recent expansion drive, the MedTech scale-up now occupies a 730 sqft private office at LSP and holds a Sciontec AI Flexi Space membership in The Spine.
Antony Shimmin, Chief Operating Officer at MyCardium AI, said: “We have worked closely with Sciontec to find the best model of workspace to satisfy our business needs. Having enough space for our team to come together, while having the flexibility to use different locations is a real advantage for us.”
Other new Sciontec AI customers include Morgan Sindall Construction & Infrastructure, who occupy Project Team Space for six employees, as well as Marks & Clerk LLP and Hive Projects, who have all taken up the Flexi Space coworking membership.
Just a short walk away at Liverpool Science Park, Inceptial Technologies UK Ltd and eLando AD are now co-working space occupiers, in addition to FS Waste signing up for Virtual Plus Membership.
Momita Saha Choudhury, Director at Inceptial Technologies UK Ltd, said: “Choosing to locate our HQ at Liverpool Science Park will enable us to better serve the IT and digital industry. We were really impressed with the facilities offered by Sciontec and we will certainly benefit from their close links with the local talent pool.”
Sciontec’s new customers are already embedding themselves in the Knowledge Quarter Liverpool (KQ Liverpool) innovation ecosystem, by engaging with the newly launched KQ Liverpool Innovation & Growth Services programmes, utilising the local networks and attending community events.
Georgi Tonchev, Chief Business Development Officer at eLando AD, added: “The soft landing support provided through KQ Base has enabled us to open our first Liverpool base.
“Having a high quality workspace in Liverpool will enhance our presence in the North of England, enabling us to grow our engineering team locally, and better engage with the UK FinTech community.”
To find out more about Sciontec’s workspace options, please visit their website.
Welcome…
…to the UK Innovation Districts Group Monthly Digest, exploring the latest trends and insights in innovation, regeneration, inclusive growth, placemaking and the sustainable development of innovation districts.
The UK IDG is a network of twelve self-defined innovation districts from across the UK who you can read more about here.
Why the age of American Progress Ended: Invention alone can’t change the world; what matters is what happens next.
“The Scourge of All Humankind
if you were, for whatever macabre reason, seeking the most catastrophic moment in the history of humankind, you might well settle on this: About 10,000 years ago, as people first began to domesticate animals and farm the land in Mesopotamia, India, and northern Africa, a peculiar virus leaped across the species barrier. Little is known about its early years. But the virus spread and, whether sooner or later, became virulent. It ransacked internal organs before traveling through the blood to the skin, where it erupted in pus-filled lesions. Many of those who survived it were left marked, disfigured, even blind”
READ OR LISTEN TO THE FULL ARTICLE
Other Stories
Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove was in the North East where he signed a devolution deal. Council leaders across Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and County Durham met in Gateshead on Friday to sign the £4.2bn agreement.
ChatGPT is ‘not particularly innovative,’ and ‘nothing revolutionary’, says Meta’s chief AI scientist. The public perceives OpenAI’s ChatGPT as revolutionary, but the same techniques are being used and the same kind of work is going on at many research labs, says the deep learning pioneer.
China surpassing US in key innovation metric and evolving from ‘imitator’, Washington report says. Global market share of America’s firms and its allies at risk ‘in most high-value-added, advanced industries’ vital to national prosperity and security Think tank study finds China’s innovation in 2020 was 139% of its US equivalent, up from 78% in 2010.
Young Innovators Awards Winners 2022/23: The Young Innovators Awards empowers young people, aged 18 to 30, to turn their innovative idea into a reality. The annual competition from Innovate UK supports and celebrates young entrepreneurs with ground-breaking business ideas. This year, 94 Young Innovators Awards winners were selected from hundreds of applicants.
Research agency supporting high risk, high reward research formally established Science Minister George Freeman today announces the formal establishment of the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) as an independent body.
UK startups could lose an average of £100,000 due to the government’s proposed changes to the R&D tax credit scheme, new research has found.
How to navigate the low-carbon transition with ETFs. Investors increasingly need partners and products that can help translate sustainability commitments into tangible portfolio allocation. How are ETFs serving that purpose?
The big idea: what’s the secret of innovation? How the wisdom of Homer Simpson can teach us important lessons about progress
Grants & Competitions
Freight Innovation Fund Accelerator: DfT and Connected Places Catapult will select up to 12 SMEs to join a 6-month programme, where they will each have the opportunity to access up to £150,000 of funding to trial their solutions. Applications are open until 5 February 2023.
The Water Discovery Challenge (‘Discovery’) is a £4 million competition for bold and ingenious innovation that can help solve the biggest challenges facing the water sector today and in the future.
Discovery aims to accelerate the discovery, development and adoption of promising innovations by the water sector. It aims to achieve this by directly supporting organisations with innovative propositions and facilitating their engagement with water companies.
Discovery is a 18-month competition that brings together a blend of financial and non-financial support to support innovations to launch and succeed in the water sector in England and Wales. Finalist and winning teams retain all intellectual property rights and equity in their organisation. Entries can be entered into the Challenge confidentially. Applications close on 5th April.
Podcasts
Discover the new podcast from Glasgow City Innovation District, Door to the District takes you behind the scenes of Glasgow businesses where you’ll discover bold enterprise and cutting-edge research across an array of industries, from Space and 5G to FinTech and Quantum.
Centre for Cities podcast, City Minutes, latest episode is hosted by Andrew Carter who is joined by Centre for Cities’ Director of Policy and Research, Paul Swinney, to discuss the findings of our new report: At the Frontier: The geography of the UK’s new economy. The report explores how new economy advanced tech industries are created in urban areas and what the Government should do to seize these opportunities.
UK IDG Members
Glasgow Tech Fest is back on April 19th! A key date in the tech calendar where you’ll hear from founders, investors, & ecosystem builders through inspiring keynotes, panel sessions and fireside chats. Register here
Hosted by Downtown in Business in association with Knowledge Quarter Liverpool & Sciontec, a national conference will be held on 2nd March 2023 at The Spine, Liverpool, to explore innovative solutions to the challenges facing the UK & global economy. Book tickets.
Happy New Year !
Welcome to the UK Innovation Districts Group Monthly Digest, exploring the latest trends and insights in innovation, regeneration, inclusive growth, placemaking and the sustainable development of innovation districts.
The UK IDG is a network of twelve self-defined innovation districts from across the UK who you can read more about here.
Visual Capitalist, a company who make data more accessible has mapped the world’s most innovative countries using data from the United Nations WIPO Global Innovation Index with the UK ranking 4th.
Other Stories
Greater Manchester’s burgeoning innovation ecosystem has taken another major step forward with the signing of an agreement with the UK’s national innovation agency, Innovate UK. The MOU between Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Innovation Greater Manchester and Innovate UK commits the parties to closer collaboration to boost innovation and R&D in the city-region.
At COP27, the UN Climate Change secretariat launched version 1.0 of the Virtual Hub site – a tool for collating government entities’ demand for climate and sustainability solutions – designed to be a platform of global ambitions to tackle climate change. Read more about green hydrogen, bamboo & beans!
The UK government has appointed five industry leading experts to make use of post-Brexit freedoms by driving innovation in cutting edge sectors that will be vital to Britain’s future growth.
The Social Mobility Commission have published a report that identifies the current barriers to finding and using socio-economic data, to outline an ambition of what an improved data environment could look like and how it might benefit future policy-making. The research acts as an aspirational paper to stimulate discussion and engagement across the government.
Grants & Competitions
The Department for Transport is offering innovators grants of up to £30k to undertake early stage, high-risk research, and development projects. They’re looking for ideas that can help decarbonise the UK maritime sector and support its transition to zero emission shipping. The team are keen to consider a wide range of new clean maritime technologies and encourage applicants to think creatively. Apply here. Applications close 15th January.
RIBA’s exhibition Long Life, Low Energy: Designing for a circular economy looks at the circular economy and its role in RIBA’s strategy for a more sustainable, net zero architecture in the future.
Given the significance of the subject matter and the high levels of press interest in the exhibition, RIBA would like to showcase further works completed in 2022 under one of more of the following headings:
- Buildings that use sustainable or recycled materials as core construction components
- Buildings that are self-sufficient or net positive in energy consumption
- Buildings that are demountable and no longer linear in terms of lifespan, with materials and components allowing for future reuse
- Buildings that have successfully been re-configured for reuse without the need for demolition
Find out more details here. Applications close on 16th January.
Podcasts
Centre for Cities podcast, City Talks, latest episode is hosted by Andrew Carter who is joined by urban economic development expert John Houghton to discuss his Solving the riddle of the sands blog series, which examines how we can revive England’s struggling seaside towns.
The DNA of Cities podcast presented by Prof Greg Clark CBE and Caitlin Morrissey examines How do cities acquire traits? speaking to experts about the forces & events that they believe cause cities to accumulate their unique DNA.
Connected Places Catapult‘s 2022: A year in review revisits some of the stories & fascinating guests featured last year – from the BBC’s former Science Editor, David Shukman to one of Britain’s most well-known rail enthusiasts of Great Railway Journeys fame, Michael Portillo and much more.
UK IDG Members
Arrow supports businesses by connecting them with expertise from across Newcastle University, strengthening the local economy along the way. Over the last four years, the Arrow programme has helped over 150 businesses to step into the future.
Hosted by Downtown in Business in association with Knowledge Quarter Liverpool & Sciontec, a national conference will be held on 2nd March 2023 at The Spine, Liverpool, to explore innovative solutions to the challenges facing the UK & global economy. Book tickets.
Welcome to the UK Innovation Districts Group Monthly Digest, exploring the latest trends and insights in innovation, regeneration, inclusive growth, placemaking and the sustainable development of innovation districts.
“Innovation does not happen in a vacuum“, Emma Frost, Chair of UK IDG
The landscape of innovation is changing. So too is the rate of growth in the innovation economy.
Over the last 15 years there has been a distinct shift away from more secluded, out-of-town innovation campuses towards new models that favour urban vibrancy, diversity, connectedness, and proximity.
Over that same period, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in economic growth related to sectors typically classified as part of the innovation economy. More broadly, innovation is helping to fuel the Fourth Industrial Revolution which is said to be stimulating change at a rate 10 times faster and at 300 times the scale than the First Industrial Revolution in Victorian times.
Clearly, innovation and specifically, Innovation Districts – where much of this activity is increasingly centred, have a key role to play in the local, regional and national economy.
Other Stories
- The Centre for Progressive Policy’s Inclusive Growth Conference 2022 took place last week combining keynote speeches, panel discussions and debates exploring how inclusive economic growth can meet today’s challenges. Watch it back here.
- The Prime Minister spoke at the CBI conference in Birmingham citing his belief in the power of innovation to drive growth, which he declared the “defining focus of this government.”
- New plans have been drawn up for a £700m innovation district: Oxford North. Initial infrastructure construction works are set to be finished in January 2023, and building the first of 317 homes already permitted on the site is set to start early next year.
- Clean Hydrogen Mission: Strengthening Europe’s clean hydrogen future. The goal of the the Mission is to reduce the costs of clean hydrogen to the end user to $2/kg by 2030. This will be achieved through the Mission supporting both innovation and the development and the delivery of at least 100 large-scale integrated hydrogen ‘valleys’ worldwide.
- The Global Institute of Innovation Districts has gathered insights from over 100 districts and found that three strategies are common among the most successful innovation districts and why innovation districts need to prioritise inclusion strategies. Innovation Quarter provides a summary.
- Innovate UK Smart Grant applications are open until 18th January 2023. UK registered organisations can apply for a share of up to £25 million for game-changing and commercially viable R&D innovation that can significantly impact the UK economy.
- Ayming‘s fourth edition of the International Innovation Barometer report offers an overview of the most important innovation trends around the world. It also includes insights into how businesses are financing R&D and the impact of the current energy crisis on business ability to innovate.
Podcasts
- The DNA of Cities podcast first episode is out presented by Prof Greg Clark CBE and Caitlin Morrissey. The series starts with a simple question “Do cities have DNA?” . They ask an expert panel of urban planners, economists and architects what The DNA of Cities means from their personal and disciplinary viewpoints.
- Centre for Cities podcast, City Talks, latest episode is all about examining the CHIPS and Science Act discussing the US Government’s Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors and Science Act (the CHIPS Act), recently signed into law by President Joe Biden.
- Digital Catapult’s Supercharging Innovation podcast interviews Indro Mukerjee, CEO of Innovate UK about the future of innovation and his mission to inspire, involve and invest – building skills and driving diversity to help create real progress.
- Innovation Uncovered podcast looks at Making Gaming Accessible for All. Roughly 46 million gamers have a type of disability, presenting specific challenges for video game developers. Playground Games, a UK-based company, whose team designed the popular Forza Horizon 5 driving game, understood the assignment.
UK IDG Member News
SHIFT
From visualizing carbon emissions from buildings to wireless charging for EVs, meet the 8 South Korean start-ups set to trail new tech related to urban mobility and net zero in London’s Living testbed: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Leeds Innovation Arc
Leeds council propose major developments to city centre with ‘Leeds Innovation Arc‘. Leeds City Council are proposing a series of major developments to the Western part of the city, which aim to bring in new businesses and jobs, as well as improving public spaces.
Welcome
Welcome to the UK Innovation Districts Group Monthly Digest. Join us as we explore trends, lessons and new insights into innovation, regeneration, inclusive growth, placemaking and the sustainable and accessible creation of Innovation Districts and Knowledge Quarters.
The UKIDG is a network of eight self-defined innovation districts from across the UK including: Glasgow Riverside Innovation District, Knowledge Quarter Liverpool, Leeds Innovation District, Knowledge Quarter London, Belfast Harbour, Bristol Temple Quarter, Newcastle Helix and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. As a group, we aim to make the case for our urban centres and their potential to advance research in areas such as AI, medical sciences and the humanities, while growing the UK’s wider economy.
Each of our Monthly Digests is dedicated to ensuring that you are kept up to date with the latest thought leadership and research in this area.
Top News
Hubs of Innovation Report
Connected Places Catapult new report explores the role of Districts, Corridors and Quarters as hubs of the Covid-adjusted innovation economy. The innovation economy has been one of the defining features of the last economic cycle. How places become places of discovery and job creation has rapidly become a worldwide preoccupation for cities, local governments, regions and nations.
READ MORE
Other News
The Global Institute of Innovation Districts have published the report The Global Institute in 2021: Harnessing Innovation Districts to “Build Back Better”.
MHCLG announces 3 new levelling up and community investment programmes which aim to level up communities. The UK Community Renewal Fund, The Levelling Up Fund and The Community Ownership Fund.
BEIS launch the Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, a £1 billion fund– to accelerate the commercialisation of low-carbon technologies, systems and business models in power, buildings, and industry.
The Business Desk viewpoint article discusses how Innovation policy must be localised, granular and inclusive to level up the North.
Centre for cities podcast, City Talks, speaks with Jason Segedy and Kenan Fikri on America’s Legacy Cities
ELIEZ virtual event took place to showcase some of the innovations that have come out of East London Inclusive Enterprise Zone (ELIEZ), celebrating disability-led innovation.
Wired article explores Why location is key to startup success and how Co-location can help your science and tech startup find top talent, inspiration and support.
Seedsprint article outlines 5 European Innovation Districts You Need to Know.
Partner News
Glasgow Riverside Innovation District is engaging local stakeholders and community members to inform it’s 20-year strategy. They want to provide a step change in the way people and communities are connected to innovation decision-making and to ensure it identifies the most productive forms of interaction between academic communities and the surrounding public.
Global Disability Innovation Hub on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has been announced as the first organisation to be awarded the status of World Health Organisation (WHO) Official Collaborating Centre on Assistive Technology.
Leeds School of Arts sees £80 million Investment in a new hub for creative education in the city and acts a gateway to the planned Leeds Innovation District
Innovations welcome!
Please feel free to share this newsletter
and encourage others to sign up.
If you have suggestions of articles or projects for us to feature,
we’d love to hear from you.
For more information about the UK IDG and member registration
Find us at:
hello@UKInnovationDistricts.co.uk
www.UKInnovationDistricts.co.uk
To join our mailing list please subscribe.
Copyright © 2019 UK Innovation Districts Group, All rights reserved.
Welcome
Welcome to the UK Innovation Districts Group Monthly Digest. Join us as we explore trends, lessons and new insights into innovation, regeneration, inclusive growth, placemaking and the sustainable and accessible creation of Innovation Districts and Knowledge Quarters.
The UKIDG is a network of eight self-defined innovation districts from across the UK including: Glasgow Riverside Innovation District, Knowledge Quarter Liverpool, Leeds Innovation District, Knowledge Quarter London, Belfast Innovation District, Bristol Temple Quarter, Newcastle Helix and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. As a group, we aim to make the case for our urban centres and their potential to advance research in areas such as AI, medical sciences and the humanities, while growing the UK’s wider economy.
Each of our Monthly Digests is dedicated to ensuring that you are kept up to date with the latest thought leadership and research in this area.
Top News
UK IDG and CPC Partnership
UK IDG is delighted to announce a new partnership with Connected Cities Catapult (CPC).
With growing interest in the future of innovation districts and the role which they can play in supporting national, regional and local economies, we are pleased to partner with CPC to help extend our resource, research and reach.
UK IDG seeks to amplify the experience and expertise of practitioners and delivery partners on the ground in innovation districts across the UK; to create a united voice, from across different sectors, into government and policy makers.
Other News
Centre for Cities podcast, City Talks, speaks with The Institute for Government’s Giles Wilkes on the dos and don’ts of developing a successful industrial strategy.
Newcastle University have published article Understanding the Impact of Lockdown on our Cities
Nesta have published report Dialogues about Data: Building trust and unlocking the value of citizens’ health and care data
The New Localism article explores How Innovation Districts Can Help Drive an Inclusive Recovery
The London Society have posted article Regeneration: Less controversy more collaboration. The post was written by Gabrielle Appiah a celebrated Olympic Legacy Youth Voice Alumni from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Civic Square Birmingham have published report Designing the neighbourhood of the XXI century, through strategic innovation
Partner News
Laboratory news explains how The Spine at Knowledge Quarter Liverpool is utilising biophilic design and sensor led monitoring systems to aid human resilience in an indoor work environment.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Podcast discusses East Bank, a new £1.1 billion powerhouse of culture, education, innovation and growth being built on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It brings together UCL, UAL’s London College of Fashion, Sadler’s Wells, BBC and the V&A in the largest culture and education investment since the Great Exhibition of 1851.
Innovations welcome!
Please feel free to share this newsletter
and encourage others to sign up.
If you have suggestions of articles or projects for us to feature,
we’d love to hear from you.
For more information about the UK IDG and member registration
Find us at:
hello@UKInnovationDistricts.co.uk
www.UKInnovationDistricts.co.uk
To join our mailing list please subscribe.
Copyright © 2019 UK Innovation Districts Group, All rights reserved.