Dundee is cementing its reputation as a booming global tech hub, thanks to some exciting new developments taking place in the city at the moment.
I have previously stated my belief that Dundee is the UK’s answer to Silicon Valley, and ever since writing that piece over a year ago, so much has changed.
I read with excitement the news that a visual effects research and development facility down by the waterfront has been given the green light.
The new visual effects facility, part of a multi-million pound investment, is being led by Abertay University and will be located at the Water’s Edge complex at City Quay.
This new facility is aiming to drive the next generation of visual effects technologies.
It will provide researchers, companies and institutions across the UK with the infrastructure they need to research and develop screen and performance technology.
Alongside this, there was also the very exciting developments over at Dundee & Angus College.
They opened a new Esports Hub at their Gardyne Campus – the first of its kind in Scotland – back at the start of the month.
I am delighted that the college are taking Dundee’s esports potential seriously, because it is unfortunate that the plan for the 4,000-capacity waterfront esports arena seems to have stalled.
We’ve not heard any updates on that in months.
I continue to get asked about the progress of it.
Unfortunately I don’t know the answers, but I want to.
There seems to be a real appetite from Dundonians on having something amazing like this on their doorstep.
Dundee is a world leader in technology
Also in the last few weeks, we saw the new Dundee Tech School, launched by the Embark Group, a financial business based in the city.
The new school has already brought a dozen graduates on board, aiming to create a pipeline of high-value fintech and technology roles and inject fresh investment in the Dundee economy.
It really is exciting that all of these developments have happened in the span of a month.
It really goes to show that we can make progress in a short amount of time.
All of this, alongside other developments, is definitely cementing Dundee as a world leader in technology.
This is something I believe we should be very proud of, and something we should be excited about for the future.
We need to be ambitious, bold and brilliant if we want to see Dundee continue to grow as an attractive place for tech companies to invest in.
