In a very interesting new article in Wired, Gian Volpicelli paints a fascinating picture of the rise and fall of Silicon Roundabout and the “tech city” cluster in East London. Pointing to the changing politics and rising property price that have driven much of the real innovation away from that part of London, Gian looks at the idea of “tech clusters” as the way to drive innovation and its implications on the digital economy. Quite enlightening for anyone like me who has been wandering in and out of various back alleys off Old Street for the past decade with one key question in the back of your mind: “What the heck is going on here?”.

 

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/silicon-roundabout-tech-city-property

 

But Gian goes much further, and questions the very existence and future of David Cameron’s Silicon Roundabout ideal:

 

Today, the challenge is even more fundamental: in the age of coronavirus, does the concept of cluster – of tying your hopes to a place – still make sense? Or is the next technology cluster coming in a Slack channel near you?

 

 

Thanks

Alan

 

Alan W. Brown                                       a.w.brown@exeter.ac.uk

Professor in Digital Economy                        www.ExeterINDEX.org

Exeter Business School                              M: +44 (0)777 2454541
University of Exeter, UK                            skype:   alanwbrown
www.exeter.ac.uk                                    twitter: @alanwbrown