UK (Commonwealth Union) – Over 100 stakeholders, consisting of senior academics and international industry experts, met at a prominent symposium to explore ways of making Blackpool a global hub for ethically powered data.
The gathering was the result of a 6-month project where the Blackpool Innovation Catalyst was to investigate opportunities to produce an innovative digital sector in the resort, formed around a collection of ethically powered data centers which carry out activities with renewable energy and redistribute extra energy into social heat networks with innovative green technologies. This is then utilized on socially beneficial projects that include heating social housing and running public transport.
The team is headed by the Lancaster University and Blackpool Council which explored ways of forming a thriving digital ecosystem that can make use of the town’s unique infrastructure to initiate a new and prosperous economy for Blackpool and its adjoining locations.
A key factor paving the way for this new opportunity is the availability of the North Atlantic Loop at Blackpool. This is a next generation, subsea fiber cable system bringing a variety of high-capacity network links to both the USA and Northern Europe where the resort is strategically located to take benefit from high internet speeds and extremely low latency. This provides the foundation for upcoming technologies like robotics for a variety of sectors from health to advanced manufacturing.
“I was at an event talking to Tony Doyle, the head of IT at Blackpool Council, and we were discussing the North Atlantic Loop and the expansion of the huge windfarm off the coast of Blackpool and wondering if we could come up with something which would utilise these unique opportunities in a way which could provide a real leg-up for Blackpool,” said Lancaster University’s Dion Williams, Director of Research, Enterprise and Innovation.
