It was very exciting to read an article in The Guardian this weekend, entitled ‘Forget Silicon Valley, Bournemouth has found its mojo‘, explaining how Bournemouth and Poole are aiming to be at the cutting edge of 21st century creativity.
This is further to a Tech Nation report in February which placed Bournemouth above London as the fastest growing digital economy, with the formation of digital companies growing by over 200% since 2010, and Bournemouth and Poole the third conurbation to have the top 5 capabilities, following Belfast and Birmingham.
Bournemouth University has been a major factor in the quality of the local skillset, with expertise in UI/UX and computer simulation.
“There is a growing sense of identity and buzz around the Bournemouth digital sector: 67% of companies reported that they are part of a digital cluster.
Events such as the annual Bournemouth Silicon Beach festival and Digital Day Bournemouth are supporting this community, along with organisations like Silicon South.
Co-working spaces include Nest Space and Factory Studios, and the Open Data Lab Bournemouth is the world’s largest open device lab, housing over 450 connected devices free for anyone to test their products on.
Leading companies include creative agencies Bright Blue Day and Thinking Juice, and app developer 3 Sided Cube.”
Tech Nation Report 2015, page 34
Overall this is very encouraging news for anyone working in web design and development in the Poole and Bournemouth area currently. Long may this trend continue!