Digital & Tech

The UK's most productive tech cluster

We are one of the biggest tech hubs in the country and have the largest tech workforce in the South West.

A world-class 5G network and universal fast internet access by 2030
Most innovative UK city outside of London (Paymentsense)
Bristol no. 1 city in UK for tech jobs (Tech Nation 2022)
Exceed 85% gigabit connectivity by 2025 across the West of England
Home to five unicorns: Graphcore, OVO Energy, Pax8, Pismo & Vertical Aerospace

A leading Smart Cities location

We're home to a highly collaborative ecosystem, uniting people from diverse backgrounds and drawing on different areas of expertise, with R&D, academia, industry and the public sector working together. Our distinctive digital and tech sectors burst with innovation and creativity and have a wealth of expertise. We have capabilities in everything from fintech and immersive creative through to artificial intelligence (AI), quantum and biotech.

The region's four universities play a central role in strengthening the region’s digital and tech sector, from establishing SETsquared, to the new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus. Our universities collaborate closely with businesses in life sciences, cyber security, quantum and robotics including several autonomous vehicle projects. The universities also produce a constant stream of highly-skilled graduates with one of the highest graduate retention rates in the country.

Image credit: BDFI

Bristol Digital Futures Institute

The Bristol Digital Futures Institute (BDFI) at the University of Bristol is an interdisciplinary research institute focused on digital innovation. Bringing together academics and 28 partners from various sectors, BDFI is creating unique sociotechnical research facilities with a £31.5m investment from Research England and over £75m from partners, donors, and the university. Located on the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus, these facilities will include the world’s first reality emulator, a multisensory digital twin for immersive, iterative co-creation of digital solutions.

Bristol is Open

Bristol is Open was set up by Bristol City Council and the University of Bristol to develop a ‘test-bed’ programmable, digital infrastructure.

The programme’s research areas included:

Software Defined Networking (SDN)
Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data analytics
5G
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
CCTV analytics
High-Performance Computing (HPC)

Smart Internet Lab

The University of Bristol’s Smart Internet Lab is one of the UK's most renowned ICT research centres. The lab’s research addresses major societal and industrial challenges and around 200 experts work there to push technological boundaries. These experts specialise in research and innovation in the areas of 5G radio/wireless and optical communications, and work in fields like AI, smart cities, machine learning, and network softwarisation. Their unique offerings in optical, wireless, and cloud technologies bring together end-to-end network design for regional, national, and global ICT innovations.

Image credit: UMBRELLA

UMBRELLA

An award-winning Industrial Internet of Things (IoT) research and development testbed in South Gloucestershire. The testbed allows pioneers in digital technology to innovate and test new applications, processes, products, services, and business models to ascertain their usefulness and viability before taking them to market. In collaboration with Toshiba Research Labs, South Gloucestershire Council is building a 5G testbed in the north of Bristol. It will be an open 5G network connecting South Gloucestershire’s five innovation hubs: the Bristol & Bath Science Park, the National Composites Centre, UWE Bristol, and the IAAPS.

Image credit: Immersive Labs

Immersive Labs

Transforming cybersecurity training. Offering cutting-edge training and simulations with the skills to proactively defend against cyber threats. Strengthen your organisation's cyber resilience, to protect your assets and reputation.

Image credit: HP

HP Security Labs

The Bristol office serves as the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) headquarters for HP’s industrial research laboratory. The Bristol research facility is focused primarily on the growing importance of cybersecurity in HP’s hardware.

Pax8

Pax8 simplifies the cloud buying journey. Through billing, provisioning, automation, industry-leading PSA integrations, and pre and post-sales support, and education, Pax8 is a proven disruptor in the market

JOINER (Joint Open Infrastructure for Networks Research)

JOINER (Joint Open Infrastructure for Networks Research) is a national experimentation platform created to accelerate future communications and networks research, exploitation and adoption. Collaborative by design, JOINER enables industry, academia and government to develop and test 6G technologies and co-create applications at scale on a neutral, heterogeneous platform.

Video credit: Bristol Digital Futures Institute

Disrupting the future of digital design

Bristol Digital Futures Institute is shaping the future of digital technology. Established in 2019 with £100 million in funding, it is pioneering a new approach to digital innovation.

By combining academic expertise with industry and community partnerships, they're creating knowledge and developing new technologies that address societal challenges.

Visit Bristol Digital Futures Institute

Image credit: Open Bionics

Robotics

The region features an internationally-leading robotics subsector, including:

The Bristol Robotics Laboratory: Europe’s largest multi-disciplinary lab
Future Space: These specialist facilities are located at the University of the West of England (UWE) campus. They provide support and workspace for the region’s robotics, tech, and science-based scale-ups.
Open Bionics: Creating the ‘Hero Arm’, which is the world’s first 3D-printed prosthetic arm for children

Quantum technology

We are at the forefront of future quantum capability, with industry leaders like QTIC.

Bristol is set to play a major role in a series of new hubs being launched to ensure the UK fully benefits from the potential of quantum technologies in areas ranging from healthcare to national security. It is already pioneering in the field as the world’s first quantum photonics chip was developed in Bristol, and the region is the first 5GUK Test Network to become fully secured by quantum key distribution.