Sunderland Software City

Sunderland Software Centre

Sunderland will be wired into a network of a select group of some of Britain’s most influential and progressive cities, universities and venture capital networks, after receiving a £300,000 technology boost.

Technology giant Cisco UK has donated £300k worth of funding to the city council which will establish it to Cisco’s National Virtual Incubator (NVI) – a sustainable public technology network which promises to stimulate entrepreneurship by connecting physical sites through IT infrastructure. 

The NVI will link Sunderland’s innovation hubs, like the city’s new flagship software centre and existing technology bases such as the e.volve centre, to a series of higher education establishments, research clusters and science parks across the UK, to allow entrepreneurs and SMEs to collaborate and communicate with other like-minded businesses, partners, advisors and investors. 

It is hoped the investment will help to further strengthen the city’s position on the national software map, allowing easier interaction with other technology hotbeds and driving SME growth and collaborative working.  

Councillor Paul Watson, leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “Sunderland is well established as a hotbed of software and technology talent, and this is something that the city council has pioneered through improved infrastructure and significant investment.

“The support we have had from external partners, like Cisco, in developing an infrastructure that can help software businesses in the city to thrive and enjoy access to really cutting edge support has been fantastic.  This investment really will ensure that our businesses are more plugged into the technology network than ever before.  It’s a great boost for the city and its growing technology community.”

It is expected that the University of Sunderland will become one of the ‘nodes’ linked to the network, joining a number of universities and business centres across the city.  Start-up businesses will be able to visit the node and connect to other organisations in the network, in order to share resources, pool ideas and develop business partnerships to help them innovate and grow.  

Phil Smith, CEO of Cisco UK and Ireland, said: “We are delighted to partner with Sunderland and welcome the city to the NVI network. It has fast become an official landmark for innovation and is therefore the perfect location for the new NVI node.” 

David Dunn, Chief Executive Officer of Sunderland Software City, said: “Collaboration is often a key part of the innovation process which drives growth in the software industry and anything which makes it easier will be a valuable addition to Sunderland’s already enviable software infrastructure and is bound to be of real benefit to local businesses. 

“Having major industry players like Cisco invest in Sunderland like this is also a huge sign of the reputation the city has built as one of the key  hubs of the UK software industry, and that the recent growth of the software industry throughout the North East really is getting our region noticed.”