Cambridge, UK is becoming well known as “Silicon Fen” with a cluster of high-tech businesses focusing on software, electronics, and biotechnology and data centers developing in the region. It is now widely considered on of the most important technology centers in Europe. So why has Britain named the Old Street roundabout in east London “Tech City UK”?
According to The Daily Telegraph the region is evolving with new restaurants, designers and software developers, not to mention offices for Amazon’s online video service or a Google incubator office, but to believe that this is England’s response to Silicon Valley is a bit disappointing.
Silicon Valley, a 45 mile stretch from San Jose to San Francisco where Apple, Facebook, and Google sprung from, is also home to companies like Yahoo!, Twitter, Oracle, Adobe, eBay, and Hewlett-Packard. Stanford University also sits alongside these tech businesses. Beyond the innovation and educational prestige, hiking trails, sunshine, and proximity to the ocean have been factors that attribute to the success of the people and businesses in the region.
Like the Silicon Valley, Cambridge, or “Silicon Fen”, is also home to Cambridge University, one of the most prestigious universities, a beautiful countryside, and investment of outside capital. It may be time that Britain revisits their focus for a technology center, especially since Cambridge is seeing natural success.
