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<p>In the Autumn Budget 2017 we announced investment of £21 million to expand Tech
City UK into a nationwide network – Tech Nation – aimed at accelerating the growth
of the digital tech sector across the country. The funding will help Tech Nation support
40,000 entrepreneurs and up to 4,000 start-ups as they scale their businesses across
the UK. This includes Birmingham, with Tech Nation highlighting that digital tech
turnover for the Midlands came in at £7.7billion in 2017.</p><p> </p><p>DCMS investments
in the wider business environment are creating and developing the conditions for digital
businesses in the Midlands to start and grow. In September 2018, the Government announced
the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) as the lead partner of the Urban Connected
Communities (UCC) Project. This initiative will see the development of a large-scale
5G pilot across the region, with hubs in cities such as Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton.</p><p>
</p><p>The UCC project will design wireless infrastructure to deliver high quality
connectivity and allow new 5G applications to be trialled in a number of sectors;
allow industry to test different deployment models for 5G infrastructure and help
inform the development of policy and regulation to support 5G deployment. Up to £50
million is currently available for the UCC, including £25 million of DCMS funding.</p><p>
</p><p>DCMS are supporting the West Midlands Digital Skills Partnership which was
launched in December last year. Bringing together some key regional stakeholders,
supported by industry partners and Government, the West Midlands are exploring innovative
ways in which to improve the talent pipeline in the region.</p><p> </p><p>Government
further recognises that supporting digital businesses in the Midlands requires us
to encourage innovation and adoption of digital tech in other sectors. The emerging
West Midlands Industrial Strategy identifies exciting opportunities around data-driven
health diagnostics, which will provide opportunities to test and commercialise new
technologies, among wider opportunities for industrial digitisation applicable to
local economic strengths. My officials also look forward to working with partners
in Leicester & Leicestershire and Nottingham & Nottinghamshire in the near
future, as they open discussion with Government around their Local Industrial Strategies.</p>
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