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Hectic week as ever

A lot of things happening at DigitalCity Business, and some that will become news shortly. Cant say too much about it, but keep an eye out for reports on Kevin Mann and his company Take Publishing in the next month or so. All Im saying for now is hes been through the DigitalCity system, worked brilliantly with everyone in the North East, and if we can do it once, DigitalCity and the region can do it again and again and again

Monday I went to see the preview of Prima Primavera the new movie out of Vita Nova produced by Steve Bowden. A packed house at the Tyneside, and a really good movie. Proves that multiple finance, multiple input, multiple nationality crews and multiple locations across Europe can produce something far, far better than the dreaded Europudding, and that resilient producers who know what theyre doing can deliver from the North East. Well done Steve and his team!

But I guess its that time of year you look back on the past twelve months and reflect, and look forward as well. At DigitalCity Business weve had an amazing year. Weve continued putting out innovative business growth initiatives [check out the Business Growth Workshop System and the iSD scheme on the website]. Weve really cranked up business development activities for the businesses in the cluster, making connections and doing business for them as far afield as Japan and the USA. Theres a few things in this regard that should make waves in early 2010 [more keeping an eye on reports then]. And we completed Boho One, which Im sure was a fair achievement as any of you who know it will confirm. But were also close to seeing it through its first six months of operations, which is another thing entirely. And as one person whod already successfully built and opened a building in the North East confided to me a few months before we opened, with me completely frazzled and dazed by the insanity of it all: dont worry, the last three months of a build project are the worst. Actually theyre not - its the first year after it opens that will kill you

Actually, weve had surprisingly few snags to deal with. Its steadily filling up, and theres a good, diverse range of companies coming in, and with them in the building really is beginning to work the way we wanted it to. And thats all about collaboration. Boho One was designed with collaboration at the heart of the way we thought about it. It almost forces people to bump into each other and strike up conversations that lead to ideas that lead to new business.

And collaboration is whats increasingly at the heart of the way I see 2010

You may have heard of Northern Net by now. The idea behind it is a really sound one that if we give digital media, digital technology and creative businesses in the north of England the tools to be able to join together and collaborate, theyll be able to go after bigger and better projects that individual companies alone would never get. Its the rationale behind SohoNet in London there, the system allows the film effects houses get together and compete on something like an a even footing with the world giants such as ILM, Digital Domain and Weta.

Now I would say that this idea is a sound one, because it was myself andf Mark Dobson at the Tyneside who first wrote up the idea for One NorthEast. And good on them, as they took the idea forward with the other northern regions to fund and then build Northern Net.

It means you now have the opportunity to team up with companies right across the north, and exchange the media youre developing with them quickly and securely from places called Media Access Bureaus such as the ones at the Tyneside Cinema, NFM and Boho One [most of these also have other resources at Boho One we have a render farm].

But its not all been plain sailing. No big scheme is. And one of the things that hasnt quite gone right is the link between putting the high speed connectivity infrastructure in place and getting it going, and creating the collaboration buzz so that companies are primed and eager to do joint projects. So what we have is in early 2010 is the NorthernNet system going live at the same time as activities to encourage networking and collaboration across the north. In my view the activities should have come earlier, but this is the real world, and maybe better late than never

But they are coming, and Id encourage you to get stuck in, attend the events, and really make an effort to figure out how you can exploit a system the regional development agencies have spent a lot of money on providing you with. And make your voice count if you feel the thing could be improved, or if you feel there are better ways to find the great companies in Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester or wherever you want to work with, tell NorthernNet. No other part of the country has this opportunity, so its up to us as the digital media, digital technology and creative sectors to make the thing work.

January 07 2010

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