TSB launches Connected Digital Economy Catapult

According to Iain Gray, chief executive of the Technology Strategy Board, Catapult will bring together expertise to help the UK's digital businesses – forecast to grow 10% per year for the next four years, and contribute 10% of UK's GDP by 2015 – to develop, test and apply new technologies. The goal, he says, is to stimulate growth by reducing the risks associated with creating hugely profitable Internet-based products and services. "With many, if not all, industries searching for ways to utilise digital technology, the opportunity for the Catapult will be enormous," states Gray. "It will also be applicable to all Internet-using businesses and industries, as they attempt to innovate with digital technology to provide consumers and businesses with new products and services." Meanwhile, Business Secretary Vince Cable says that it's all about rebalancing the economy and delivering strong, sustainable and balanced growth. "We have world leading, innovative businesses in the ICT, digital and creative sectors which have considerable potential for growth... I and the rest of the government want to make sure that we can maintain that position in the future, taking new technologies and using them in an innovative way to make a product or service that people want." Gray expects the new centre to focus on areas including: how digital media and content are traded and used; the pervasiveness of digital services such as cloud computing and identity management; and the blending of digital and physical worlds. The Connected Digital Economy Catapult will also help businesses that traditionally are less active in the digital marketplace, he says – transferring knowledge and experience from leading industries.