David Hardman, chairman, UK Science Park Association

1. next generation science parks
innovation ecologies in a digital world
Dr David Hardman
CEO - Innovation Birmingham
Chairman - UKSPA

2. Innovation ecologies
Science parks have driven
economies as aggregators as
geographically compact
entities
Ecologies are intrinsically dynamic –
subject to continuous and rapid change - responding to
external influences - technological, socio-economic and
political

3. People
Commercial propositions
Money
Place
Social Capital
Leaders and feeders
A stable regional innovation ecology
Rather, successful clusters grow organically resulting from the efforts of a handful
of entrepreneurs who got together and decided to foster entrepreneurship in
the region
Government/Public sector too often invest capital in facilities creating top-down
clusters.

4. National Government
sets the Knowledge Economy/Innovation
agenda
Local Government
interprets agenda based on local legacy, needs
and opportunities
Public sector
creates the canvas
Academe and Private sector
paint the picture
the knowledge economy triple helix

5. drivers of historically unique change
Societal evolution
technology integral to life
urbanisation

6. “Silicon Valley no longer a
place but a network of
places”
Today … linking from
elsewhere and then
relocating activity to the
Valley
Tomorrow ….
Future relevance of geography?

7. Boomers the ‘Why nots’ born 1946-64
Gen X ICT Immigrants born 1965-80
By 2020 in Europe 1 in 5 will be over 65
majority will work beyond retirement age
many starting small businesses for life style
and financial support
Gen Y the Millennials born 1980-2000
Their digital orientation, fluency in web and
mobile, means they will remain quick adopters
of new technology as they focus on careers,
families, home and high-tech living
IT Generations by 2020

8. social media platforms, physical location interacting with one’s mobile device
The SoLoMo effect

9. Gen ‘Z’ - our 2020 innovation ecology clients

10. They are/will challenge academia requiring affordable
personalised learning based around video, podcasts, webinars
and social media tools with real-time on demand expectations
…. these are the 2020 entrepreneurs
The ICT Generation
Gen Z - born after 2000
Fluent in mobile and social platforms
global reach and outlook with local ease,
global friendships through virtual
connections
81%
of online teens
use some kind
of social media
26%
would need to fly to meet
most of their social
network friends
76%
wish their hobby
could be their
job (GenY=50%)
52%
use YouTube and other
social media sites when
researching for homework

11. The socially connected consumer
Global growth of the internet, cloud computing combined with
advanced analytical tools to scour large data sets on mobile
platforms – accelerated rate of change
New market transparency as business and consumer activity is
tracked and monitored
market power continues to shift to the consumer
entry barriers to global markets lower for small businesses
48% of all UK retail
websites are
accessed
from mobile devices
34% of all retail
website sales are
from mobile devices
47% of consumers
have used mobiles
to browse competitor’s
websites while in store
3,400% growth in
mobile commerce
in last 4 years

12. The Internet explosion required infrastructure which spawned the
original tech start-up community in Silicon Valley
Interconnected personal computers - Databases - browsers -
servers - storage - security ……
Today - Horizontally scalable computing & storage systems
- Open source software
- Web Services
Translates into Less capital required to start a company
Mark Suster , http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/
reducing costs of start-up

13. web-connected businesses
Transient/kinetic workforce – horizontally distributed talent -
Collaborative networks of contingent workers
Creative nomads - more self-employment and micro-businesses
with global reach
Collaborative communities of customers and suppliers
drives crowd-trained decisions, problem solving and anticipation of
need
Data becomes the value component in many products and services

14. Urbanised innovation – nothing new
C19th and early C20th industrial
districts - high concentrations of
manufacturing enterprises
engaging in similar or
complimentary work
Such clustering facilitated local
supply chains - fluid supply of
workers living in the surrounding
communities and walked to work
Edward K. Muller and Paul A. Groves, “The Emergence of Industrial
Districts in Mid-Nineteenth Century Baltimore” Geographical Review 69
(2) (1979): 159–178

15. Today’s innovation districts
Innovation districts maintain elements of earlier
models but embody new interplays
demanded by the new economies where
supply chains are global
“ While the marginal cost of transmitting
information across geographical space has fallen
significantly, the marginal cost of transmitting
knowledge still rises with distance …. Therefore, the
knowledge spill over benefits of clustering in cities
can be large for high-value, knowledge intensive
sectors.”
Devolving Decision Making: Meeting the Regional Economic Challenge; The
Importance of Cities to Regional Growth”
London: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2006
More than half of global
population lives in a city
City dwellers are 50% more
productive than rural workers
and 30% more prosperous
Larger cities come up with more
innovations per head than smaller ones

16. “(Knowledge economy) companies thrive in urban environments,
where they can connect with other industries, drawing on the
culture and diversity of the city”
South Mountain Economics, LLC, “A Balanced and Growing Economy:
How San Francisco is Making the Transition to a Digital City” (2014)
Today’s innovation districts
“The trend is to nurture living, breathing communities rather than
sterile remote, compounds of research silos”
Business Week June 2009

17. UK ‘Science Parks’ tenant companies : 4,083
UK ‘Science Parks’ jobs in tenant companies: 74,045
As at 2013 all figures based on UKSPA membership
Core city regions
London
Cambridge
Oxford
Other southeast/east
Scotland
otherSource UKSPA : analysis by GVA
Driving future growth: Core cities and the
knowledge economy Spring 2014
Today’s UK science park scene
Urban quasi-urban Suburban

18. the challenge
Address borderless complex and dispersed
innovation chains work-force and consumers
Catalyse the growth of micro-multinationals
Embrace the consequences of urbanisation of innovation

19. Where geography
is not the overriding
factor determining
community success
Interconnected Centres
Connected Real Estate – promoting borderless innovation -
Generating communities of interest

20. virtual incubator networking

21. Approach
Connect
Communicate
Collaborate
Create….
Celebrate

22. iCentra
An alliance of physical creative locations connected via digital
bridges that offer a sense of ‘place’ to promote amplification of
ideas -
Digital Ports -
global to support local

23. … will be driven not by the place but by
the community attracted to the place
… will be driven by entrepreneurs and
innovators collaborating physically and
virtually with expertise, experience and
access to funding
… will be a Campus that is the focal point
for Birmingham’s tech-community
Our success …

24. Consequences
20 years ago we thought we were going to be wired hermits but it
turns out greater urbanization pervades
Smaller connected real estate
Digitally enhanced convivial centres
integrated Urban locations
Multi-sector stimulated
Highly collaborative, flexible, data rich
kinetic and transient communities of creative nomads
Horizontally connected SMEs - fewer corporates
Driven by the internet of ( innovation )

25. Connected
Communicating
Collaborating
Creating
( Urban ) Communities
Gen Z science parks

26. davidh@innovationbham.com
www.innovationbham.com
Thank you for listening