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The latest from Tech Central, by Sarah Windrum

As the Digital Lead for the West Midlands Combined Authority’s (WMCA)Productivity and Skills Commission, I recently met with Andy Palmer, CEO of Aston Martin, who heads the commission.

I am now workingwith the data with which we were presented to make recommendations for the final report in March - and the data is not what I expected.

I knew that productivity in the West Midlands is down against the national average, but I did not expectthat to apply to the digital sector. Across digital, productivity is nearly £9,000 per person below the national average. I believe the key to productivity is better use of digital - so why is our digital sector not leading the way?

Creating a Culture of Digital

Last summer, the West Midlands Digital Group presented a 'Digital Transformation Call to Action' to West Midlands Mayor Andy Street. It made the case for digital transformation as crucial to improved productivity across the region and discussed the three mainbarriers;connectivity, skills and culture.

One solution I have already discussed in Warwickshire Means Business is the Urban Challenge - a WMCA competition to identify technology companies with potential solutions to address four key challenges in local government: housing; digital citizenship; health & well-being; and youth unemployment. The challenge closes on January 31 and I urge anyone working in this space to visit - www.urbanchallenge.io.

Access to investment and access to a scalable market will certainly improve the productivity of our digital sector and it is great to see local government leading the way. Why do West Midlands venture capital investors travel to London to invest in new technology when it is right on our doorstep?!

Small digital businesses also struggle to gain traction with large public sector organisations and their procurement processes, so the challenge includes a period of mentorship as well as financial investment and customer demand.

Connectivity is a Two Way Street

Infrastructure is crucial. In my role as CEO of the Emerald Group I often advise customers on the limitations of their digital infrastructure. “You can’t run motorway traffic on a B road” is an-oft-used phrase.Sometimes the problem is with servers and hardware but mostly it is limitations ofconnectivity to the premises.

Digital companies are also affected. We chose our current site based on the fibre connectivity yet we still struggle with capacity now the business park is built up. We haven’t invested enough in our digital infrastructure, and like our power network, I fear the worst is yet to come.

Connectivity is a two-way street, requiring investment from both private and public sectors. The Local Full Fibre Network Fund from the Department of Digital, Culture, Media, & Sport supports this dual investment with two current waves.

Wave 1 is a voucher scheme for gigabit connectivity already in place as a pilot across Coventry & Warwickshire (https://gigabitvoucher.culture.gov.uk/).

Wave 2 is a potential game-changer - funding to deliver fibre to all public buildings across a region, giving gigabit connectivity to more rural areas where none has existed before. It offers the opportunity to turn our public buildings into Digital Hubs to best serve communities. A brilliant idea.

Collaboration Succeeds

A Digital Hub at the centre of the community is only as good as the people who use it. And what about the talent pipeline we need to keep our technology evolving to compete with the rest of the world?

We are moving in the right direction. When I look at what we have achieved for the digital sector through the Coventry & Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, Warwickshire County Council, local businesses, and other stakeholders working in collaboration, I am reassured. From Digital Schoolhouse, launched for our Warwickshire primary schools, to a new Next Gen Skills Academy diploma starting in September 2018, to a joint Coventry and Warwick University bid submitted before Christmas to strengthen our Creative Clusters - working together has achieved so much and will achieve so much more.

Please join us. Whether you are passionate about culture, infrastructure, or skills, please join the Digital Evolution and contact me on sarah@emerald-group.co.uk or look out for our next Tech Central event in February 2018.