More Tech City press

Two weeks after the launch of our Tale of Tech City report, it is still being talked about! Which can only be a good thing.

Latest is a short piece I collaborated on for Estates Gazette - as Deputy London Mayor Kit Malthouse said at our launch, maybe not all tech entrepreneurs have heard about Tech City, but 100% of property industry professionals have!

The FT ran a piece the day after the report, and The Observer covered our scenarios for future growth.

The Guardian published a second piece, this time on their local government network by Dr Sean Carey, a social anthropologist leading a research project on Digital Shoreditch for the University of East London. Interestingly, his points about the white-male makeup of the cluster reflect those I made when speaking at the Place East London conference, when I fessed up to my social anthropology roots!

And the academics have been talking, both at LSE's Spatial Economics Research Centre, and at UCL's CASA.

The business community is talking about us too!

Algeria

Algeria is celebrating 50 years of independence, as noted in the Financial Times. We spent a wonderful three days in the country during the celebrations: lovely people, lovely food, and a wealth of opportunities. That's me making friends with the mascot of the environment ministry.

Tale of Tech City is out!

Such was the demand for our report on Tech City that the Wall Street Journal, BBC Online and The Independent either got ahold of a leaked copy (not from us!) or broke the embargo after the toothpaste was out of the tube.  

The report, by myself, Dr Max Nathan and CfL Deputy Director Rob Whitehead, is now available for free download here: http://www.demos.co.uk/publications/ataleoftechcity

Meanwhile, media interest continues unabated, starting with The Guardian, whose Tech Editor Charles Arthur called me yesterday for an interview, the first time since my 2007 book Schizophrenie Francaise was published that I'd been on the recieving end of journalists questions.

At today's event, where Rob was interviewed for BBC London (to feature on the lunchtime news), it was standing room only.

Meanwhile, the regeneration community was paying attention, notably Richard Florida, the 'government's guru' known for his 'creative class' concept, writing in Altantic Cities. Reports also in
in ELR News, and Reneration & Renewal.

The Tech community, of course, had plenty to say, including at Tech World and of course, on Twitter under #techcity.

A piece I wrote for The Tech City Insider on connectivity appeared under the headline Techs and The City, a title we toyed with for the report.

The property industry, who Deputy London Mayor Kit Malthouse said today will determine in which direction the cluster moves, was well represented at the event, and will soon be reading about the report. An article by myself and Sandra Jones of Ramidus Consulting, who has done her own research with the EGi property database, will appear in Estates Gazette on July 14.

No doubt there will be more to come. On Twitter, debate suggests how our report is digested will be important - as well as follow up research on how the cluster can best serve the local community, and on the tech scene more broadly across London and further afield. As TechCrunch Europe Editor Mike Butcher said in a tweet (@mikebutcher) "It's the report after this one that counts."