Tech & AI

We’re proud to be a region rich in tech and digital expertise with the fastest growing tech sector in the UK.

We’re home to the UK’s only National Innovation Centres for Data, and the UK’s first AI Growth Zone, worth £30 billion and anchored by QTS Data Centre Campus in Blyth, Cobalt Park in North Tyneside. Our universities, Durham, Newcastle, Northumbria and Sunderland are outstanding with global reputations for world-leading research and are pioneers in computer forensics and security, and quantum computing.

We’ve created Newcastle Helix, a landmark 24-acre hybrid city quarter specifically built for international tech and science innovation.

We have sector expertise in fintech, data science, gaming, and immersive technologies. We’re brimming with industry leaders including Ubisoft Reflections, ZeroLight, Sage UK, Accenture, Atom Bank and Opencast.

Our vibrant tech scene has attracted conferences such as Thinking Digital, ALIFE 19, Game Horizon and the Human-Computer Interaction International Conference. If your conference is in the tech and innovation sector, it belongs in North East England.

Things you need to know:

• The North East has the highest percentage of STEM and computer science students in England.
• Newcastle University is home to the Centre for Doctoral Training in Cloud Computing for Big Data.
• Newcastle benefits from high-capacity digital infrastructure that connects the city to the US in 66 milliseconds via the North Atlantic Loop.
• Northumbria University partners with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) on the AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Citizen-Centred Artificial Intelligence (CCAI) and is ranked 12th in the UK for computer science and informatics.