Business Secretary Vince Cable today announced up to £150 million worth of investment into a new Smart Cities centre in London.
It will be part of a network of technology and innovation centres, overseen by the Technology Strategy Board to open up opportunities for the UK across the globe and to create economic growth.
Chaired by Sir David King, the centre will look at how services including health, transport and energy can be integrated to improve the economy and benefit the population.
It’s part of the government’s strategy to look at how UK cities can be smarter in the future. King was previously Chief Scientific Advisor to the government, working with the Prime Minister on issues including global environmental change.
Catapulting ahead
The government describes the initiative as ‘catapults’, which act as a form of incubator for future technologies.
Speaking at Innovate UK 2013, Vince Cable described the chain of Catapults as ‘national centres of excellence, promoting innovation in collaboration with business’.
The Catapult will receive up to £50 million of funding in the next five years from the Technology Strategy Board.
With more funding expected from the private sector, money for the centre is expected to reach £150 million. London will host the ‘Future Cities’ Catapult centre, which will work with a demonstrator project in Glasgow.
The new chair of the Catapult, Sir David King said he was honoured to be appointed to the post, as it tackles “some of the most critical issues we currently face as a society.”
The London Catapult will be active from later on in the year, working with other established centres looking at Transport Systems, Connected Digital Economy and Satellite Applications. London will focus on how to provide better services in cities of the future.
Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board Iain Gray said the the capital ‘is recognised as a truly international city’ with a ‘unique set-up including national and international transportation links, world-class universities, leading businesses and highly-skilled staff’, making it the perfect place for the Catapult.