North West Announces Major Growth in the Region's Digital Economy

Derry-Londonderry's efforts to kickstart the region's digital economy are beginning to bear fruit with the announcement that over 20 new digital businesses have been established in the city in the last 12 months.

The Digital Derry project, which launched in September last year in an effort to support the creative digital content sector, this week announced that the city had seen a major boost in the number of new digital companies over the last 12 months in areas such as music technology, web applications and what's been dubbed "culture tech". As a result the organisation have set an aggressive target to support the creation of 100 new businesses by 2015.

The city's Digital Champion, Mark Nagurski said: "Our city has had a long history of creativity and world-class cultural output. The digital creative industries have the potential to help us transform that heritage into a vibrant new industry for the city, driven by a unique blend of technology and culture that sets Derry apart. Importantly, there's a growing entrepreneurial spirit that will help us achieve our goal of supporting one hundred new digital businesses in the city by 2015."

Padraig Canavan, President of the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce and founder of Derry-based software company Singularity added: "The Chamber of Commerce have put the digital economy at the top of our agenda and for good reason. Not only does the city benefit from world-class digital infrastructure, a university with huge growth potential and supportive public sector but the UK City of Culture designation and recently published regeneration plan provide us with a once in a generation opportunity to make a real impact. Most importantly, the Digital Derry project is being driven by the private sector and it's that willingness of the public and private sectors to work together that is putting Derry's digital industries on the national stage."

Speaking after a meeting with local stakeholders at the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce this week, Culture Minister, Carál Ní Chuilín said: ""I'm extremely pleased that Derry is embracing the innovation and entrepreneurial potential of arts and culture. The digital economy, and in particular the area of cultural technology, has enormous potential for both Derry and the wider economy in the North of Ireland."
To further celebrate the potential of the sector, Digital Derry will play host to a high-profile delegation of investors, entrepreneurs and support agencies at a public showcase event on October 20th. Further information is available at www.digitalderry.org