"ICT"

A long history of technology innovation combined with a modern communications infrastructure has made the South West a top location choice for world class ICT companies. 
 
The region's significant R&D capabilities, skills availability, rapid transport connections, illustrious academic knowledge transfer and effective networking opportunities underpin a dynamic sector. Additionally, but significantly, the south west is considered to offer the best lifestyle choice in the UK.  
 
The South West of England Regional Development Agency recognises the ICT industry as a key sector and is supportive in its projected growth. 
 
Watch our new Introduction to the ICT Sector video here. 
 
 
 
Watch Tamiko Hutchinson on how the region supports Intel develop its business. 
 
 
 
Silicon design is a huge and dynamic market, currently worth around £20billion a year worldwide. It is part of the larger global semiconductor market, which is valued at around £125billion annually. The region has recently hosted wireless 2.0 conference in partnership with Silicon South West. The event was a great success with considerable interest from the international trade press. 
 
South West England is home to Europe's largest concentration of silicon designers, second only to the USA. The companies in the region are increasingly attractive to Venture Capitalists and the cluster has an active start-up culture. Click on the link to the latest exciting story relating to the region's attractiveness and exciting innovation.  
 
Key sector strengths include: 
 
Wireless Communications: Specialist skills and world-class research facilities in fields including silicon design, software development, and communications technologies enable the convergence capabilities that have attracted major players such as Motorola, Orange, Hewlett Packard, and Toshiba, as well as smaller but highly innovative businesses such as picoChip, IPWireless, Apertio and L-3 TRL Technology. These companies, and many others locally, are providing solutions in high-performance signal processing, point-to-point wireless, and advanced radio and satellite communications systems.  
 
Photonics: Groundbreaking research projects within our universities have led to many successful spin-out ventures and partnerships with major players, helping to make South West England a key location for investment in areas such as Photonic Crystal Fibre (PCF) technology; integrated fibroptical telecommunication; high quality precision optical components; wavelength division multiplexers and optical wave guides; blue LEDs and Organic Light Emitting Polymers (OLEPs). Firms operating in the south west include Arima Optoelectronics, Bookham Technologies, QinetiQ, Optoelectronic Manufacturing Corporation, Sifam Fibre Optics, Thales Optronics, Qioptic and Gooch & Housego.  
 
Semiconductors: South West England is globally recognised as the European centre for semiconductor design. 500 silicon product designers based here participate in the Silicon South West (www.siliconsouthwest.com) network. The network provides a dynamic bridge between business, research and investors, and is supported by the regionally based National Microelectronics Institute, as well as a university partnership that includes the Universities of Bath and Bristol. Technologies include VLSI, parallel processing/DSP, digital tv and graphics, broadband applications, including HSDPA and internet telephony, and leading edge mixed signal and ASIC design. Businesses in the region include Broadcom, picoChip, Clearspeed, Infineon, and STMicroelectronics. Other key semiconductor players in the region include Zarlink with 2 sites (fabrication and R&D), X-FAB (mixed signal and specialist foundry) and Eltek Semiconductors (processing in wafer, die and packaged form). Strong collaborations exist between the semiconductor sector and the regions universities who are working together to provide world class graduates. For example the University of Bristol now run an MSc in Advanced Microelectronics Systems Engineering which has been designed to meet the needs of the industry. 
 
Software: The south west's convergent sectors, including silicon design, telecoms and wireless, creative industries,and photonics have made the region the first choice location for many successful world class software companies. They are supported by major universities with industry-recognised computer science departments. In turn they provide a breeding ground for incubation, university spin-outs, and other startup businesses. All aspects of software consultancy and supply are represented, including development, applications, service and support - also providing a major attraction to other key regional high tech sectors such as aerospace and biotechnology. Major players include Hewlett Packard, Intergraph, CODASciSys, Cramer Systems, MessageLabs and Star, and SEA Group. Smaller but highly innovative companies, often working alongside world leaders such as Microsoft, include Digita and Instant Business Ltd.  
 
Supercomputing and Grid Environments: Research institutions and industry generate enormous volumes and diversity of data. High performance computing (HPC) is now especially relevant, and the University of Bristol is leading the way in the development and use of HPC tools - the largest of its 3 new computer systems is expected to become one of the top computers of its type in the world. The computers will be used for research into climate change, medical advances, and many other areas of science and engineering.  
 
ClearSpeed, one of the major partners in the University of Bristol project, is based in Bristol, with offices in California. It is widely recognised as a leading authority in acceleration technology and its programmable processors enable supercomputing capabilities on affordable platforms. Quadrics, another Bristol company with a collaborative approach to business, applied advanced technology to build clusters that achieve supercomputing levels pf performance and reliability, in addition to supplying the software used in many of the world's fastest computers. HP Labs Bristol has been involved in global Grid and utility computing projects using the significant clusters at its Bristol site. Nallatech, with its UK Design Centre in Bristol, has announced new HPC products designed for IBM applications in financial modeling, seismic processing and academic research.  
 
In Exeter we have one of the most significant users of state-of-the-art supercomputers in the world - the Met Office, the world's leading provider of environmental and weather-related services, attracted to the South West due to the strong support environment right across the ICT arena.