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Transforming the Solent Maritime region with innovation
The Solent Maritime region has a £5.8 billion maritime economy and a workforce of 152,000 strong, but is the potential of this vibrant, influential hub being maximised? To unlock the region’s future on the world stage, innovation has a central role to play.
Alongside Maritime UK and the Solent Maritime Zone, the partnership is supporting the region to deliver immense local, national, and global benefits, fuelled by new investment, talent, and distribution opportunities. We will explore the details of this vast project that includes SMBs and defence primes alike, and how it will make an impact on the world’s future.
The scale of the project
The sprawling Solent ecosystem must be co-ordinated to harness the best opportunities to innovate and thrive, and a simple, coherent solution was required to do so. The partnership designed the Solent MIG to serve as an enterprise, single point of access approach, facilitating the creation of a dynamic and collaborative environment.
At the heart of this will be valuable interaction with innovators, SMBs, regulators, defence primes and large technology companies, optimising cross-sector networks and reinforcing the region’s position as a global leader. The development, testing, and acceleration of new ideas will be essential in achieving these goals, as will education, training, and the fostering of crucial skills.
Uniting and harnessing the rich, innovative offerings within the Solent business ecosystem is one aspect of the Innovation Gateway, but it also unlocks opportunities for powerful international collaboration. This enables the Solent region to seamlessly interact at a global level, tapping into new opportunities, investment, skillsets, and ideas, while seamlessly sharing and distributing its own world-leading offerings.
World-leading ambitions
By overcoming the challenges of uniting this complex ecosystem, the Solent Maritime Innovation Gateway will empower leaders to look to the future. The region intends to play a central role in accelerating Net Zero progress, strengthening resilience, driving efficiency, and enhancing digital infrastructure.
Above all, the Solent MIG system will serve as a template for the future, demonstrating how innovation, collaboration, and coherence can enable a place to become truly connected. The proud maritime history of the Solent and the organisations that carry it forward have begun a new chapter with the arrival of the Solent Maritime Innovation Gateway.
