Fund to boost South West creative technology sector

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New £6.4m fund to boost creative technology sector across South West

The South West’s plan to be a world leader in the creative use of digital technology has received a significant boost, with the Government announcing a major funding award to strengthen the region-wide creative technology sector – and Bath Spa University will be one of the lead project partners.

The Government award comes via Research England’s Connecting Capability Fund (CCF), which encourages collaborative projects between universities and other partners to drive forward world-class commercialisation of higher education research and practice.

The South West project is one of just 18 selected for support from across England, and the only one which includes a focus on the creative industries. £4.6m has been awarded to the networking project from the CCF, with universities and other partners contributing an additional £1.8m.

Professor Kate Pullinger, Director of the Centre for Culture and Creative Industries at Bath Spa University, said: "We are delighted to be working with organisations across the South West on this innovative project which plays to our region's world-leading strengths. The creative industries - from the smallest micro-businesses to the larger players - are an important asset for our regional economy, and that of the UK as a whole. This funding will help initiate and strengthen collaborative projects between higher education and the wider community, generating new opportunities to transform how people engage with digital technology.”

The three-year project will focus on building better links between researchers, businesses and investors through activities such as joint research, seed funding for new business ideas, consultancy and training, the creation of new companies and social enterprises, and public and community engagement.

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