Innovation Birmingham CEO, Dr David Hardman MBE, has received an award from Silicon Canal, recognising his notable contribution towards developing Birmingham’s impressive tech ecosystem.
The Silicon Canal Tech Awards is set to become a major annual event for the city, recognising both fully established and start-up companies as well as the individuals behind them. The not-for-profit CIC, whose mission is to connect, promote and support the tech ecosystem of Greater Birmingham recently welcomed over 230 of Greater Birmingham’s top tech talent to the first award ceremony, held at Digbeth’s Boxxed venue on Wednesday 2nd November 2016.
David Hardman picked up the award for Ecosystem Contributor of the Year, with an additional nine awards presented to notable regional figures by co-host “Alexa”, Amazon’s virtual assistant device.
Moving to Birmingham in 2008 to develop and implement a strategy that would build on the legacy of the third oldest science park in the UK, David Hardman has successfully transformed Aston Science Park into Innovation Birmingham Campus; the region’s leading location for digital and tech companies.
With over 20 years’ experience in knowledge transfer, David Hardman has been working at the interface between applied research and commercial application and exploitation. His expertise and experience has successfully encouraged the creation of appropriate partnerships and infrastructures to promote the development of knowledge-based businesses across a range of sectors including life sciences and, in Birmingham, digital technologies.
Dr David Hardman MBE, CEO of Innovation Birmingham, said: “Ecologies are dynamic systems, whereby if you intervene at any one point, you will influence the whole system. Overcoming one limiting factor without addressing the whole will just lead to other pinch-points. In Birmingham, we are providing a focal point for start-ups and early stage businesses by orchestrating communities where people with ideas, expertise and experience and money can come together to help deliver commercial aspirations based on digital technologies.
“Birmingham’s digital enterprise ecology is thriving but there is still a need to promote what is going on in the city, a task which both Innovation Birmingham and Silicon Canal continue to address in complementary ways.”
The Silicon Canal awards were the second major event held by the organisation this year, following the successful launch of their white paper in May, attended by over 300 key tech and digital influencers and leaders from throughout the city and the UK.