Region’s digital business urged to help keep Norwich a tech city

The Sync the City event at the King's Centre. Organisers, Fiona Lettice, professor of innovation management at the Norwich Business School, UEA, and John Fagan, founder. Picture: DENISE BRADLEY

A survey launched today will help secure the city's place in an annual report by Tech City UK which highlights thriving digital communities.

Last year Norwich was among 21 cities and regions featured in the Tech Nation study, which revealed the city and wider county had experienced a 21pc growth in new technology companies between 2010 and 2013. It found there were 14,521 people employed in the digital sector.

The survey comes as a Norfolk Chamber of Commerce event next week will consider how digital technology is impacting business.

Fiona Lettice, professor of innovation management at Norwich Business School and coordinator of SyncNorwich, said competition for Tech Nation would be even tougher this year.

'We see the survey as key to raising Norwich's profile, so we can continue to attract and retain talent and tech companies and startups in the region,' she said. 'We need to get as many Norwich companies to complete the survey as possible.'

Launched by David Cameron and George Osborne in February 2015, Tech Nation is an interactive data project that demonstrates the growth of digital clusters across the UK.

It was the first community-driven research providing a holistic snapshot of the UK digital economy.

John Fagan, cofounder of startup community SyncNorwich, said to be included in last year's report was a big win for the city's tech community.

He said: 'This is just one part of making people aware that Norwich has a big digital community. A key benefit is attracting new talent.'

Mr Fagan added there was a thriving grass roots tech scene in the city, which met regularly.

To complete the survey, click here

Have you launched a new tech company? Call Sabah Meddings on 01603 772879 or email sabah.meddings@archant.co.uk