A&L Goodbody LLP
July 10, 2015 - Ireland
Northern Ireland is Positioning itself as a Leading Technology Hub
by Ivan Waide.
Earlier this year, the UK government launched 'Tech Nation';
an interactive data project that shows the growth of digital businesses within
specific areas/regions across the UK. The report is the first of its kind and
ranked Belfast as the second highest region in the UK in terms of the highest
average company turnover in this sector, with Greater Manchester securing the
top spot and Sheffield, Inner London and South Wales coming third, fourth and
fifth respectively.
Tech Nation reported a 73% increase in new digital companies incorporated in
Northern Ireland between 2010 and 2013 with the three main sectors of focus in
the region listed as games development, software development and data
management and analytics. In 2013 and 2014, almost one in five (17%) of all new
companies incorporated in Northern Ireland were digital – this is above the 15%
UK average.
The digital sector currently employs approximately 32,000 people in Belfast
alone. According to the Tech Nation report, this figure places Belfast 6th in
the UK for total digital employment. Belfast has "one of the strongest
networks for business support, local customers and trading. Its knowledge
economy is the fastest growing in the UK."
Following on from the second annual BelTech conference in April, Belfast also
found itself host in June to some of the biggest players in the global Fintech
and Entreprise Software industries as part of the MoneyConf and EnterConf
events, a spin-out of the Web Summit.
Tech Nation also reported that public financial support is readily available in
Northern Ireland, with companies here twice as likely as the national average
to be able to source such funding. Invest NI's Access to Finance initiative has
done much to facilitate this.
The Tech Nation report reflects the wider digital growth in other regions of
Northern Ireland. Derry/Londonderry is also on the rise as a key digital hub in
Northern Ireland, being the first city in the UK or Ireland to have full fibre
broadband coverage and now host to the North West Regional Science Park, which
has its own data centre and which houses businesses involved in various digital
and technology-related sectors.
Read full article at: http://www.algoodbody.com/knowledge.jsp?i=5731