High Tech Cluster
The Cambridge High-Tech cluster has developed over the last 30 years to become one of the best in the world. This growth was defined as the ‘Cambridge Phenomenon’ by consultants SQW to describe the transformation of Cambridge from a small market town with a university in the 1970s to the leading high-tech cluster that it is today. With 1,400 high-tech companies employing nearly 43,000 people, the area has developed rapidly to become the scientific research and development capital of the UK. The chart below shows the progress of the cluster, alongside the developments and convergence in key technologies over the years.
Source: Changing sector strengths in Greater Cambridge, PACEC (2003)
Further reading on the Cambridge High Tech Cluster can be found at the following locations:
Websites:
University of
Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing website
Library House website which
provides market intelligence and reports authored by world-leading experts
Cambridge Network website which provides
news and information about what is happening in the high-tech cluster
Books:
The Cambridge Phenomenon – the growth of high technology industry in a university town, Segal Quince Wicksteed (1985)
Clusters of Creativity: Enduring Lessons on Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Silicon Valley and Europe’s Silicon Fen R Koepp (2002)
Cambridge Entrepreneurs: In the business of technology, L Beveridge (2001)
