Eight thousand delegates converged on the West Midlands over the last five days for events aimed at boosting regional investment. Birmingham Tech Week framed proceedings throughout the week, which saw Connected Places Catapult host a range of events including; the launch of an innovation sprint for local SMEs and hosting a delegation from the Republic of Korea. 

Monday included a focus on the new West Midlands Combined Authority ‘AI Missions’ document at a leadership breakfast event organised by Tech West Mids, featuring the region’s Mayor, Richard Parker. Discussions over networking included the recent West Midlands Investment Prospectus, and how accelerator programmes such as DIATOMIC and Clean Futures are promoting advanced technologies and raising investment in traditional industry sectors.   

Delegates also discussed the forthcoming Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona in November – where Connected Places Catapult will bring West Midlands leaders together with other UK regional heads – and preparations for Birmingham hosting the Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress in 2027.

Connected Places Catapult’s Head of Regional Engagement, Iain Mansell said conversations are ongoing to develop digital twinning capabilities in the region, and said the Catapult is in a perfect position to advise on furthering innovation through its new office in the city centre. “Birmingham is a city of a thousand trades, and the focus now is to exploit opportunities that add a layer of advanced technology across traditional industries – to create a city of a thousand opportunities,” he said.

Tuesday featured the Government's inaugural Regional Investment Summit attended by Connected Places Catapult’s Director of Regional and Local Growth, Vasant Chari, which heard the Chancellor and the Business and Trade Secretary speak about the importance of innovation partnerships in the West Midlands and other regions across the UK. Reflecting on the day, Vasant highlighted the launch of a new partnership called ‘Stirling 20’ to channel pension funds towards major infrastructure schemes, and the promise of a further £20m to the West Midlands through the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund as two key highlights.

The leadership breakfast on Monday also welcomed a delegation of SMEs from an innovation partnership convened by the Catapult between Birmingham and Ulsan in the Republic of Korea. At an event that afternoon, the delegation pitched their technologies to delegates and engaged with applicants from cohort three of the Diatomic accelerator.

“City regions and clusters across the UK recognise the potential of innovation to drive private sector investment and boost their local economies,” Vasant commented. “Connected Places Catapult has had a permanent presence in the West Midlands for three years and we’re proud to be part of the story of how this region is harnessing its world-class innovation strengths across sectors such as automotive and manufacturing, to create jobs, secure contracts and raise investment.”

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Elsewhere, a ‘Forging Global Partnerships’ fringe event saw the Catapult showcase the work of SMEs involved in the Birmingham / Ulsan innovation partnership to develop technology around smart cities, clean tech and health tech. Daniel Block from the Catapult led sessions addressing hurdles to innovation, overcoming the ‘valley of death’ and entering new markets; and two of our Researchers in Residence – Dr Weiqi Hua of the University of Birmingham, and Manolya Kavakli-Thorne from Aston University – spoke about their work to bridge the innovation gap between the two cities through the Diatomic accelerator. 

In addition, Luiz Fernando Hagemann from the Catapult led sessions around building impact on outcomes from the Innovation Twins and Diatomic programmes. 

The event welcomed Professor Jun Jie Wu, the Deputy Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at Aston University, along with regional stakeholders including from the West Midlands Combined Authority and Birmingham City Council, in a session led by Gareth Davies from the Catapult. 

Steve Pyer, our Highways and Integrated Transport Director spoke at Logistics UK’s annual digital transformation in logistics event in Digbeth, where the Catapult launched an ‘innovation sprint’ for the West Midlands Logistics and Distribution Cluster – which the Catapult leads for the West Midlands Combined Authority. 

The idea is to pair logistics SMEs in the cluster with members of the Catapult’s nationwide Freight Innovation Cluster to identify solutions to three challenges around Long Distance and Depot-to-Depot Movements; Urban Logistics and Last Mile Deliveries; and operations either off-road, site-based or on private sites. 

“The innovation sprint has been launched to help logistics businesses achieve growth through innovation,” said Catapult Cluster Lead, Alok Pandya. “Logistics is historically a low margin sector with legacy systems, so we are keen to help supercharge the sector’s transition to the digital age.” 

Wednesday saw two members of the Logistics and Distribution Cluster – Alan Walker of Syslek, and Robert Helme of MH tech – take part in an event held with Innovation Alliance West Midlands that was focused on zero carbon and innovation in transport. Members discussed data and digitalisation in logistics and the challenge of data sharing, transitioning to net zero and charging infrastructure planning. 

Thursday saw the Catapult host an event for senior stakeholders in regional authorities with a responsibility for local growth. The event, ‘Collaborate to Innovate’, helped policy makers explore latest thinking around innovation to maximise impact in the regions. Many of those present at the event will join the Connected Places Catapult presence at the Smart City Expo World Congress next month, where the focus will be on how new technologies can boost regional economic growth. 

Find out more about the Smart Cities Expo World Congress.