The Cambridge Technopole: What next?

Hi Tim Just a quick note to say thanks for the li...

2012-03-26T06:47:14.237+01:00

Hi Tim

Just a quick note to say thanks for the link to my blog review of TEDxGranta and more importantly, thanks for a memorable talk. I loved the research you undertook with kids and the ten steps told a very powerful story. Good luck in your work and I hope you get the success you deserve in switching more kids on to engineering.

Cheers - Doug

Interesting related blog post at http://progressiv...

2011-09-18T03:16:54.773+01:00

Interesting related blog post at http://progressivepolicy.org/do-it-yourself-creating-a-producer-society

Great post. Time, space and resources to prototyp...

2011-08-31T21:47:43.565+01:00

Great post. Time, space and resources to prototype and experiment are what I think is needed. Investing in people to allow them to prototype on their own terms is great for early stage developments.

I am based in Design London in the RCA, which is designed to do just this.

Are there any other good examples in the UK?

Great Post Tim. We should be pushing for resources...

2011-08-29T18:17:40.684+01:00

Great Post Tim.
We should be pushing for resources like MakeSpace in every City. I bashed out some ill-formed thoughts on the subject here: http://doobiewotsit.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/manufacturing-as-the-next-big-thing/
Indeed, if the reaction of an engineering firm I was describing MakeSpace to the other day is anything to go by, the appetite for supporting these initiatives is huge.
Yes, it would provide the enabling tools for enterprise, but also redress the technology education lottery that we know exists. Projects like MakeSpace can help make engineering and manufacturing fun for kids will help them to consider it as a future career option.
Rob Halden-Pratt

just stumbled on your blog, good read.....

2011-05-11T11:57:36.681+01:00

just stumbled on your blog, good read.....

The issue raised by Martin is valid and well known...

2010-12-28T20:25:39.105Z

The issue raised by Martin is valid and well known to the innovation and entrepreneurial community, and as Martin rightly expresses it is still stubbornly there. Maybe we have to think beyond technology vs. market or market pull vs. technology push. Possibly the problem is in Europe’s attitude to failure. If we think big we are also likely to fail big time. If we stick to a good technology at least we can be proud of designing a cute gadget, something tangible and independent of success and failure.
As we all know changing beliefs and behaviours is not an easy task and also cannot be accomplished in a short time. Maybe we have to start thinking big about how to change attitudes to innovation and related risks first.

I would agree with Mr. Sargent. The lack of risk c...

2010-11-13T16:42:40.238Z

I would agree with Mr. Sargent. The lack of risk capital and lack of *real* information (free or otherwise) is a concern for all start-ups whether in Cambridge or moreso in Bangalore.

I think the IfM model is brilliant and plugs some of the gaps and perhaps similar(ly) modelled institutions are needed in the region.

Just a thought!

What has not been achieved might be a more fruitfu...

2010-11-12T23:12:47.472Z

What has not been achieved might be a more fruitful question. I have a feeling that there are many startups needing advice, and many sources of free advice - at first. But at the next step where startups need more serious input, they don't have the money to spend with local suppliers/experts and are forced to continue without any advice or help. This is a small hole in our local ecosystem?

The Community - desire, interest, willingness to c...

2010-11-12T21:38:47.980Z

The Community - desire, interest, willingness to cooperate amongst each other, and a motivation to pursue not what everybody else is doing. In short, a belief.

Good question.

2010-11-03T20:34:26.510Z

Good question.

Slides used in this presentation and related podca...

2010-05-29T19:11:35.366+01:00

Slides used in this presentation and related podcast are now available from http://www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/service/events/info/thursdays_past.html

i am coming to Cambridge to study architecture in ...

2010-05-18T09:52:56.426+01:00

i am coming to Cambridge to study architecture in October and start a start up immediately after my MPHIL.Now,am not sure if to stick to Cambridge,or go to Silicon Valley!

Thank you Tim. I'm a huge fan of you blog and ...

2010-05-09T09:18:57.908+01:00

Thank you Tim. I'm a huge fan of you blog and would be interested to hear your thoughts (perhaps a blog post) on the somewhat lackluster efforts of helping enterprise to migrate to the West Cambridge site. With the news that Microsoft will now be be leaving and a common feeling of poor planning and lack of facilities, what should be done to help Cambridge expand to this new site and beyond?

Tim, Thanks for the post. Have read Lessons fro...

2010-05-03T13:42:31.443+01:00

Tim,

Thanks for the post. Have read Lessons from Studying Large Multinational Companies you did last year; indeed I think we have lived a few of the scenarios.

Albion and PneumaCare would be happy to provide some material for the next study. We have several examples on how not to do it as well and the success stories.

Amongst many other aspects, through mapping of the project on both business and technical levels is key; objectives must be understood. The alternative results in too much micromanaging or “wheel spinning” activity.

Cambridge is an idea place for Open Innovation as we have the visionary, the practical, and the global reach.

Dr. J Ward Hills
Chief Technology Officer
PneumaCare Ltd

Ideas like this need to get through to central gov...

2010-05-03T12:25:39.389+01:00

Ideas like this need to get through to central government policy makers - otherwise they think building shopping centres is the simple answer!

Picking up on Laura James' comment, I definite...

2009-10-29T09:20:40.957Z

Picking up on Laura James' comment, I definitely believe that there is a need to separate the corporate level from the community level.

On the corporate level, Cambridge Network does a great job. But speaking to many techies, SMEs, groups it is obvious that the technopole community perceives a lack of an online space where information can be easily shared and accessed.

That is where www.camtechnet.co.uk comes in, aiming to fill that gap. Obviously it's success will rely entirely on the take-up by the community, as it is a user-driven platform.

The proliferation of platforms is an issue in itse...

2009-10-27T17:47:20.917Z

The proliferation of platforms is an issue in itself.

For Cambridge groups alone I'm in 5 Ning, 5 Meetup, 6 LinkedIn and 2 Google groups. That even excludes a group that meets monthly but doesn't maintain a website.

For the intentionally non-corporate end of things,...

2009-10-26T17:48:36.204Z

For the intentionally non-corporate end of things, there is now www.camtechnet.co.uk

It is mildly interesting that there is a perceived need to list less "formal" groups - and to see how quickly some informal events have changed mode once they were better known.

Ideal for a linkedin or facebook group that connec...

2009-10-26T11:29:50.880Z

Ideal for a linkedin or facebook group that connects all the organisations together - is there a 'technopole' group?

Cambridge University Entrepreneurs (www.cue.org.uk...

2009-10-26T10:19:30.176Z

Cambridge University Entrepreneurs (www.cue.org.uk) also run a Business Plan competition which brings together some young researchers with good ideas from the University and a broad range of local angels and businesses interested in innovation.

Very nice text, however, I would like to point tha...

2009-10-24T00:59:22.141+01:00

Very nice text, however, I would like to point that for foreigners London is not the only city to work. Especially, for ones with diploma.
In London your are just one drop in ocean, and London has different faces. The image of Cambridge is only one. I would say that working in Cambridge and Oxford might be similar prestigious as in London. Now maybe even more, eventually it's better to be good scientist from Oxbridge than bad banker from City ;)

From my personal perspective. When I figured out how much IT work is here I knew that I prefer to start my career here and London is only backup plan. Sometimes I say "Everybody can work in London, not everyone in Cambridge". Maybe it's not entirely true, but sound nice ;)

One the other hand, foreigners are even more affected by problem of "people usually found new businesses in the place that they live or work already, with people that they already know." How could I start the new business if I don't know anybody? If you comes here for University you have your chance to meet people, but if comes with family your time for socialisation is rather short...

Oh, one more thing, maybe houses in London are more expensive, but salaries are better too. After nearly 3 years here I've started to understand people going from Cambridge/Ely every day to London.

The feedback from our discussion group of recent g...

2009-10-09T20:42:23.429+01:00

The feedback from our discussion group of recent graduates was that students who had come to Cambridge from other countries were even more inclined to see London as the only place to work in the UK than were the British students.

The counter-example though is given by two recent Cambridge University spin-outs which are funded and based here. OrthoMimetics and Cambridge Temperature Concepts were founded by a Canadian and a New Zealander respectively.

Interesting perspective. One of the MBAs has done ...

2009-10-08T21:33:44.584+01:00

Interesting perspective. One of the MBAs has done a first dive into the age and gender of the cambridge start-ups. We need some help to dive deep. But this may give us another insight into who stays and who goes in terms of men/women/ age and potential ethnic origin too. The companies we looked at were from Cambridge Enterprise and CUE.

What seem to be 'creative' ways of thinkin...

2009-09-15T18:58:36.315+01:00

What seem to be 'creative' ways of thinking, communicating and achieving outcomes do sync nicely with 'scientific' methods. Different, but parallel and complementary. But it needs examples (real, high quality stuff), direction (or at the very least, facilitation) and collaboration tools to get stuff happening - chaos can be fun, but there's still a role for management. I've found that people who describe themselves as in the creative industries too often restrict themselves to that industry: it's not always the 'scientists' who have the barriers. One observation: is being sniffy about web marketing types the behaviour of a endangered species? (Eeek!)

Interesting points. As a rule, interdisciplinarity...

2009-09-14T08:03:52.051+01:00

Interesting points. As a rule, interdisciplinarity - especially mixing arts and science - is hard work, and that perhaps puts off some people.

I've heard complaints from old CamCreative hands that these days their events are so full of web marketing types that it's not the original creative networking event any more, and less worth attending as a networking event for their own field. This is viewed as a sad loss for a creative industry which is, compared to the huge bulk of tech locally, a minority sport which appreciated a forum.

Most of all, though, I think the challenge for Cambridge is that there are so many events going on - you list a tiny fraction - that one simply cannot attend even a substantial fraction of them, regardless of interest. And for those actually doing innovation (rather than just talking about it), long hours and great commitment are the norm, and one doesn't go to non-essential evening events when one is flat out building tomorrow - one picks and chooses very carefully indeed.