Clare Hall TechTalk - David Gill, St. John's Innovation Centre, Cambridge: Prophets with Honour: history lessons for a future Cambridge technopole

Tue 21 February 2017

Clare Hall

International delegations (from governments, universities and industry) regularly visit Cambridge to learn how to grow a dynamic technology cluster. Many of the Cambridge 'lessons' are counterintuitive: the most thriving technopole in Europe developed without central planning; the University, while key to regional research intensity and networking, is not directly responsible for large numbers of spin-outs; and an emphasis on 'deep science' puts Cambridge at odds with the popular image of digital start-ups common in metropolitan clusters such as London or Berlin. Planning reform and institution-building from the late 1960s unleashed a generation of creativity, with wide benefits for society leading to commercial success. However, fifty years of growth created conditions which can no longer be tackled piecemeal, and technocratic solutions on their own lack inspiration or public support. Overseas visitors study the pivotal role played by this cluster's pioneering generation: how can Cambridge itself regain that visionary spirit?

Brief Bio:

David Gill was appointed Managing Director of St John’s Innovation Centre in October 2008. He previously set up and ran the Innovation & Technology Unit at HSBC Bank in London (1997-2004), before serving as an executive director of ETCapital Ltd, a venture firm focused on early-stage, technology-based investments. Educated at Cambridge, he qualified as a barrister before working in corporate finance for US and UK banks.

A Sloan Fellow at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in California (2005), David is currently an Academic Collaborator at the University of Cambridge Institute for Manufacturing. He is also the co-author of a number of analyses of innovation (in the US, Israel, Germany and the UK), business incubation and finance for growth firms, most recently ‘Startup Support Programme: What is the difference?”(NESTA 2015) and “Consolidating the Gains:Government Intervention in Risk Capital (Venture Capital (2015) . He is a non-executive director of the Greater Cambridge Peterborough Enterprise Partnership.


This talk will take place at the Richard Eden Suite, West Court Herschel Road, Cambridge, CB3 9AG - View Map (NB West Court is at the very far west end of Herschel Road, beyond Sylvester Rd)

Cost: Free