Organisations in the North East have highlighted the strengths of the region’s tech sector in a bid to attract both investors and young talent.
Teams from tech network Dynamo, support agency Generator and Sunderland Software City have contributed to an updated version of the One Region, One Sector, One Statement that was first published last year.
This year’s edition also includes contributions from the North East LEP, Tech Nation, Gateshead Council, Invest North East, Tech North East, Digital Union and creative agency Jump.
It had been due to be published at the North East Digital Festival, which was cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The report highlights says that amount of venture capital investment into the sector has now topped £100m, with the region’s tech sector having 3,000 businesses and 35,000 jobs.
It also looks at a growing number of tech events, improved infrastructure and connectivity, along with the emergency of promising sub-sectors such as fintech, clean energy tech and health, medical and ageing tech.
Hannah Matterson, the new chief executive at Generator, said: “We wanted to produce a document that presented a broad, positive picture of the North East’s digital and tech sector. We want this year’s One Region, One Sector, One Statement to be used by everyone promoting the region – it demonstrates the wide range of great companies working in the sector, and its growing importance to the regional economy.
“We want those in education to show students of any age what amazing opportunities there are here; we want new start-ups and job seekers to realise the breadth of what there is in the North East and the strength of our tech sector.
“We want investors from around the UK to recognise we have a serious range of opportunities, and for people to realise how much we mean to the economy and the community.”
Jill McKinney, training and delivery manager at Sunderland Software City, said: “The statement gives updates about the main developments in the sector throughout the past year.
“We were obviously delighted to see that the BBC has chosen to open its Tech Hub in the North East; in Middlesbrough we saw the announcement of Boho Next Generation, which will add to one of the most exciting digital campuses in the UK; across the Tees Valley there has been the expansion of the DigitalCity initiative while on Wearside we had the launch of a Sunderland Software City driven initiative, the North East Digital Festival, which we know will go from strength to strength.”
The report says the regional tech sector has grown at 2.23% in the past year - ahead of other parts of the regional economy - with hotspots in Middlesbrough and Gateshead.
It highlights the expansion of the Boho scheme in Middlesbrough, which it says will create “one of the most exciting and thriving digital campuses in the UK, if not Europe”.
