£1.4m boost for North digital hub
Apr 9 2008 by Karen Dent, The Journal
THE region’s digital hub has received a £1.4m boost to press ahead with the second phase of its development as a major UK centre for hi-tech businesses.
The Institute of Digital Innovation (IDI) will use the funding from regional development agency One NorthEast to generate enterprise and employment opportunities.
IDI is part of the overarching DigitalCity initiative, a partnership between the University of Teesside and Middlesbrough Council which has received almost £15m from One NorthEast since its launch in 2005.
The other DigitalCity component is the BoHo Zone, a creative area which aims to house almost 30 digital businesses and around 300 jobs.
The new funding is concentrated on Middlesbrough-based IDI, which has supported more than 150 academics and created more than 100 jobs and 50 businesses during its first phase, which was completed last month.
The IDI, housed in the university’s £12m Phoenix Centre, will use the money to continue its DigitalCity fellowships supporting academics working on new business ideas. The Connecting Innovation project, focusing on joint business- university research, development and learning, will also receive a share. A project to promote the region’s digital cluster nationally and globally will also receive funding.
IDI director Jim TerKeurst said the institute was a terrific resource for the region’s digital and creative industries.
He added: “Really what we do here is combining the best of the North East in the digital and creative industries.
“It’s about bringing people together and showing how great the region is.”
Professor Graham Henderson, vice chancellor of the University of Teesside, said: “The IDI has a major role to play in the region, attracting and generating new talent, working with companies on high-level skills and development opportunities, and producing the ideas and the businesses for a digital super-cluster.”
