Take the internet of things, add some creativity, some superfast broadband, and head to the seaside resort that’s become a poster child for digital innovation

The blurb for Brighton’s new digital catapult centre reads like a political manifesto, with promises of encouraging innovation and unlocking value. To find out what it’s really about requires the tenacity of Jeremy Paxman crossed with a petulant toddler.

However, as Nick Hibberd, head of city regeneration at Brighton & Hove city council, explains, the powers-that-be aren’t deliberately being evasive. Until the centre opens next month, it is hard to predict what projects will develop. “That is the point of the digital catapult centre – by allowing a collaborative space, innovation will come,” he says. “But innovation by its very definition means you don’t know where it’s going to end.”

Internet of things can feel boring – your fridge talks to an Ocado van when it's run out of milk. It’s not game-changing Phil Jones, Wired Sussex

The new centre is one of three initiatives in England funded by government-backed body Innovate UK. The other two are in Sunderland and Bradford. Brighton’s new centre is based on a collaboration between local universities, small and medium-sized enterprises and the public sector, as well as two big businesses, American Express and Gatwick airport. The aim is to turn Brighton’s best digital ideas from concept into reality, creating new products, services, jobs and value for the local economy.

One such concept is the internet of place, which played a key role in helping Brighton’s local enterprise partnership (LEP), Coast to Capital, win its bid for funding. It takes the idea of the internet of things, where everyday objects are internet-enabled, allowing them to talk to one another, one step on, to focus on how data and people are linked in real time.

Phil Jones, managing director at Wired Sussex, one of the main partners in the LEP-led consortium, says the plan is to make Brighton a centre of expertise in this area. “Sometimes the internet of things can feel boring – your fridge talks to an Ocado van and tells it you’ve run out of milk,” says Jones. “It’s not game changing. But the internet of place is the internet of things, plus people, plus context.”

The digital economy in Brighton is the fastest-growing sector in the city, representing 15% of all employment and generating around £720m of gross domestic product each year. By linking the creative economy with the resources of big corporations and the expertise of local academics, the new centre aims to drive even more research and innovation in the city.

Brighton is known for its small, independent retailers, many of which don’t have the resources to create and market a website. Ben Potter, from local retail marketing agency Leapfrogg, says the internet of place can be used to drive business to these shops, which may not otherwise have an online presence. It’s also a way for local residents to find out about events, offers and news in their city.

“If we can create a platform that understands the main interests of consumers – such as films, food, clothing brands – then local retailers can send out targeted messages to people’s mobile phones as they walk past,” he says. While this may not appeal to everyone, local leaders see boosting local business as vital to create a strong and stable economy.

Local leaders also want to use the internet of place to improve the way the city manages its infrastructure, including transport systems, and the 11 million tourists who visit each year. There could be apps to direct drivers away from the most congested areas and help them find free parking spaces. Improving public transport and encouraging visitors to use park and ride facilities will address concerns over traffic and air pollution, both on the agenda for the newly-elected Labour council.

Having a fast mobile network will be essential if this internet of place is to succeed. The plan is for the University of Surrey to provide a 5G test bed to the new centre – one example of local academia supporting local business.

“Brighton has one of the fastest-growing creative and digital clusters in the country and the digital centre will support that,” says Hibberd.



It was this digital cluster that made Brighton, along with Sunderland and Bradford, an obvious choice when selecting the three cities to host centres. According to Neil Crockett, chief executive at the national Digital Catapult, the seaside city is the poster child for the campaign because the whole community is involved in digital innovation.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The internet of place can drive customers to Brighton’s small, independent retailers, which might not otherwise have an online presence. Photograph: Alamy

The involvement of Gatwick and American Express is particularly interesting, according to Katja Garood, creative director at social media analyst Brandwatch. She says access to new data from all the organisations involved in the new centre should result in better business.

While the new centre’s main aim is to boost the local economy and create jobs, its leaders hope that data sharing will also help to create better services, from transport to healthcare. According to figures from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, UK businesses and public bodies held data worth £25.1bn in 2001 – a figure forecast to reach £40.7bn by 2017.

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“The differences between this approach and other big-data approaches is that we are looking at real-time exchanges of data – not warehousing and subsequent mining,” says Ron Crank, chief executive of Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), who led Brighton’s winning bid. “It is experimental and innovative.”

“The concept of building roads to unlock economic growth is well established – and there is a parallel here,” says Crockett. “Building the right infrastructure and space will develop new products and new services that will benefit the whole city.”

This article was amended on 21 May 2015. An earlier version said the Green party controlled Brighton council. The council is in fact now controlled by the Labour party.



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