Did you know that there are over 9000 people working in tech in Swindon and the surrounding areas? The thriving tech community has been a well-kept secret for many years – but the TechSwindon community is here to change that!
Following these unprecedented times, Swindon and its tech community are planning on building back better. You may not think of the town as a tech hub like neighbouring Bristol & Bath but you’d be wrong. Over 9,000 people work in digital in Swindon and it’s home to a huge array of well-known businesses with large tech teams. From Nationwide to the National Trust, Intel to Innovate there are major global businesses headquartered in Swindon alongside 100’s of startups and SMEs.
Digital transformation and access to tech talent are going to be vital to the recovery of our economy and Swindon is well placed to be at the forefront of this journey. It’s well connected, affordable and already has a growing tech cluster. Over the last 18 months, TechSPARK has been working with partners across the community to develop a network to catalyse the tech sector locally: TechSwindon.
TechSwindon has been building up its activity to grow an effective hub, but the current crisis has been a catalyst to show the importance of tech and how we need to accelerate what we’re doing. There is an opportunity to help reshape how we do business and the opportunities people will have. So, In 10 days, we’ll be launching the very first TechSwindon Summit to do just this.
The Summit will help put Swindon on the map, as a place with leading tech talent, and as somewhere you can build a successful digital business. Over the course of 5 days, there’s going to be 30+ events with speakers dialling in from across the globe. Whether it’s a Latvian entrepreneur’s start-up journey, understanding the impact of AI on Cybersecurity or how to build a values-led business there’s going to a huge breadth of knowledge shared and connections made.
The summit will be the next step in the journey of helping to transform Swindon, drawing on its engineering heritage to build something which will help the town continue to be successful in the future. I’m really looking forward to what’s coming and so should you!
Find out more about the TechSwindon Summit at techswindonsummit.com
Ben Shorrock
Ben has been working to help grow tech and digital business for the last decade. He is currently the MD of TechSPARK the Southwest’s network for tech startups and scale ups working with 25,000 people a month to help them recruit, network and raise capital in the UK’s most productive Tech cluster (TechNation 2019). He sits on the boards of the UK Tech Cluster Group, Bristol’s ONce City Economy Board, Tech Swindon, Tech Southwest and is a co-founder of Bristol Tech Festival.
Prior to working for TechSPARK, Ben worked in consultancy with businesses opening new sites internationally. In this role, he helped set up Invest Bristol & Bath and the Netherlands consulate for the north of England.
