Following Nicky’s words, Martyn Collins, Digital City Festival Director, then addressed the crowd to outline why now is the perfect time to host a festival of this type in Manchester.
Martyn said: “Manchester is home to the UK’s largest creative, digital and technology cluster outside of London, where international and local digital enterprises sit side-by-side in the city’s incubators and coworking spaces; where they converge, collaborate and drive innovation.
“The city is a major European eCommerce hub with numerous home-grown global companies, including The Hut Group, Boohoo, Missguided and AO.com, all based in the city region. We have a history of innovation as the birthplace of the first stored programme computer and the world’s first commercial computer.”
Martyn Collins, Digital City Festival Director
He also spoke about how Manchester is the UK’s second-largest recipient of international investment, attracting global brands such as Amazon, Raytheon, Jaguar Land Rover, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Tech Mahindra and L&T Tech.
Martyn then introduced Herb Kim, Founder of TEDxManchester, TEDxLiverpool and TEDxNewcastle, a steering panel member and a WIRED 100 Tech influencer, who said: “Having an event like this in Manchester totally makes sense.
“It can help be a catalyst for the next generation of growth and Digital City Festival can certainly be a big part of that story. I hope you all will support the festival – it’s a huge ambitious event that both Prolific North and Don’t Panic are investing heavily in. It’s massively important to the future of the North.”
Following Herb’s talk, Martyn introduced Matt Whalley, Head of Delivery at BJSS to say a few words. BJSS was recently announced as the Lead Sponsor for Tech Show North at Digital City Expo, which will be held during festival week.
Matt said: “Digital City Expo is going to bring together a huge range of digital businesses, services and companies who are thinking about undergoing a digital transformation. For all of us as businesses and individuals, this ecosystem creates a phenomenal community for driving innovation.
“It wasn’t a hard decision for us to get involved, to be honest, as it’s a fantastic opportunity to bring together business for more collaboration. We’re really excited to get involved in the wider environment and I encourage everyone to get involved in whatever way they can.”
Following Matt’s talk, guests were shown a short preview video about Digital City Festival before they enjoyed the rest of the evening networking and socialising.
Want to find out more about the festival? Visit the official website.
Find out more about Digital City Festival
