In an article – published on the online magazine Portus – authors Deborah Colville (Head of Belfast Innovation Office) and Clare Guinness (Belfast Innovation District Director) highlighted the city’s digital innovation ambitions – including the creation of the Maritime Mile Innovation Hub.
“Belfast is a city of creators and inventors. Innovation is in our DNA.
In the early 20th century, the city was home to the world’s largest shipyard, building the biggest ocean liners in the world.
Today, Northern Ireland’s capital city is a world-leading hub of discovery in digital technology and research excellence, with a thriving knowledge economy ecosystem and a vibrant and engaged community of innovators, businesses, researchers, and start-ups. Together, city partners have made Belfast a great place to nurture new ideas, to grow a business, to solve urban challenges, and to impress the world.
Over the next decade, innovative technologies will have a profound impact on our economy and on society. With Belfast’s proud history of innovators and significant investment on the horizon, the city is perfectly positioned to make the most of opportunities presented by innovation – not least by creating more and better jobs, regenerating our city and improving
quality of life for our citizens and visitors.
The city is developing long-term plans that will put in place the investments required to address the challenges generated by the wider global economic transformation and the need to respond to climate change. Digital innovation has an increasingly dominant role to play in social, economic and environmental policy. Our ambition is to find ways to harness this innovation to better support Belfast’s transformation into a more productive and sustainable city.[…]”
