6 August 2018
Categories: Digital and Technology
The hive for innovation in Manchester: Mi-IDEA
Nick Chrissos, Director of Innovation, Europe, Strategic Innovation Group, Cisco
In the city that takes the bee as its symbol, Manchester has been building a hive of its own: Mi-IDEA.
Mi-IDEA (Manchester Inspired Innovation Digital Enterprise Alliance) is run in partnership between Cisco and Manchester Science Partnerships (MSP), the UK's leading science park operator to form a post-accelerator model for co-innovation.
How Mi-IDEA supports the start-up ecosystem
Mi-IDEA has a different approach to supporting the start-up ecosystem altogether. As well as providing a home to exciting tech start-ups in Manchester, it will act as a focus point for co-innovation between businesses, universities and government institutions.
Mi-IDEA was also the headquarters for the UK’s smart cities demonstrator, CityVerve, a project that lived the embodiment of co-innovation.
Over 20 organisations, including MSP, Manchester City Council, British Telecom and some amazing start-ups, worked together to build a blueprint for smarter cities everywhere.
Mi-IDEA brings together the brightest minds to help tackle these issues, and more besides.
This includes uniquely fitting bees with ‘backpacks’ to study issues such as colony collapse, habitats and pollination.
We have certainly been busy bees!
If you’re attending Black Hat USA 2018, click here for more information and to book a meeting with Andrew Toolan, Business Development Manager, MIDAS and find out how Manchester, the UK’s emerging cyber security hub, can help you. If you’re not going to Black Hat USA, you can always get in touch with Andrew here.