In 2010 the British government launched a novel approach to promoting innovation and economic growth – and it worked. Instead of funding top-down projects to support its East London Tech City initiative, it simply invited business leaders and university officials to connect and brainstorm at regular high-level meetings in the prime minister’s office. The government’s goal was to act as matchmaker, triggering projects that would accelerate the growth of a promising new technology cluster.
Imperial College London, University College London and Cisco Systems Ltd. were among the first to get involved in the meetings, and one year after the launch of the initiative the match-making clicked. On 10 November, they announced a three-way collaboration to create a joint innovation hub in Shoreditch called Future Cities Centre, focusing on intelligent, sustainable cities of the future, and mobility research.
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