22 focus on southampton


City ranked fourth in UK good growth index


Southampton has outshone some of the UK’s largest cities in the 2013 ’Good Growth for Cities’ index, produced by PwC and think tank Demos


The report measures the performance of 39 cities on a range of measures wider than GDP alone, capturing the characteristics of a city which the UK public considers important for judging medium to long-term success. These measures include jobs, health, income and skills.


Southampton is one of the cities that ranks higher than it would have in tables based just on economic size – usually dominated by the likes of London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.


Ian Wishart, office senior partner at PwC in Southampton, explained: “This report is really encouraging for medium-sized cities and shows that there is a price for economic success for some of the largest cities. Increased congestion, pollution, income inequality and high house prices have ranked many of them below what we would expect if they were measured on traditional GVA alone.


“Southampton performed well on the three factors considered the highest


TOP 10 CITIES IN DEMOS-PwC GOOD GROWTH INDEX (2013)


Cities (travel to work areas)


Reading and Bracknell Aberdeen Edinburgh


Southampton Cambridge Oxford Preston Bristol Belfast


Norwich


Index scores (UK average = 0)


0.63 0.59 0.57 0.44 0.38 0.36 0.35 0.32 0.30 0.28


priority by the public, namely jobs, income and health. It was also the city which showed the greatest upward shift of all compared with the 2012 index, driven by a fall in unemployment.“


Wishart continued: “Good growth is in everyone’s interest, and to support it we need


Revolutionary research to bring silicon photonics to the mass market


Researchers from the University of Southampton have been awarded more than £6 million to bring silicon photonics to mass markets and revolutionise a wide range of applications in computing, communications, domestic appliances and healthcare.


Silicon photonics uses light (photons) to move huge amounts of data at very high speeds with extremely low power and is one of the most rapidly growing technologies in the world today. It is poised to transform devices, circuits and systems that provide high data transmission, higher resolution TV, faster computing, and will do so at low power consumption.


However, despite significant progress recently, several key research challenges still need to be overcome to enable the mass production of silicon photonic technology.


These challenges include: developing a low- cost method of comprehensively testing at the wafer scale; a passive alignment coupling technique from fibre to optical chip; a means of scaling the functionality of the photonic circuit;


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very low power, high data rate modulators; and low-cost integrated lasers within silicon photonic chips.


The new Silicon Photonics for Future Systems project aims to tackle these research challenges to enable a revolution in low-cost photonics, placing the UK at its centre.


The project is led by professor Graham Reed, from the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton. Reed is a pioneer of silicon photonics and is the individual who initiated the field within the UK, having established the Silicon Photonics Group at the University of Surrey in 1989. Reed and his group joined the ORC in 2013.


“Photonic communications technology, already so vital in core systems, currently stands at the threshold of the mass market,“ he said. “To make this vital transition it must exploit the mass- precision-processing technology developed for silicon microelectronics. We will place the UK at the forefront of this transition by bringing our microelectronics and photonics skills together to address several remaining key research


challenges for silicon photonics. The work we propose will have a profound global impact.


“The key is that the technology must follow an aggressively low-cost model, which implies that an approach similar to that developed by the microelectronics industry is required for photonics. If we are successful in tackling these challenges, the results will do nothing less than revolutionise the field.“


The programme will provide training and opportunities for a new generation of researchers and leaders in the silicon photonics field. Additionally, new start-up companies and SMEs will be able to take advantage of the enhanced capabilities and low cost provision of silicon photonics technology.


The knowledge created will be presented at the leading international Photonics and Materials Science conferences and published in the leading high-impact journals. The project team will also organise a series of public engagement activities to showcase the results, to influence policy makers and to stimulate interest within schools and the wider community.


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – MARCH 2014


jobs that give satisfaction, an opportunity for career progression, work-life balance and an income sufficient to live on, ideally with a little left over.


“Southampton has a number of attractive factors, including a highly-skilled workforce and an increasing focus on innovation. It is also a gateway to the UK with fantastic transport links between the UK and the rest of the world. All of this, combined with the appeal of its natural surroundings, gives the city great grounds for confidence.


“It’s important that businesses, universities, the public sector and the public continue to collaborate in defining and promoting Southampton’s brand and identity – we don’t want to be a hidden gem. Having a clear vision of these enables us to communicate the city’s appeal to the investor community, helping to secure sustained, good growth.“


For a copy of the full report, email Vicky Heath at vicky.heath@uk.pwc.com


Details: www.pwc.co.uk


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