The North East digital initiative, DigitalCity, has added almost £53m to the local economy.
That’s according to a new report, which examined the effectiveness of the Teesside University-led project.
DigitalCity was established to equip organisations with the “knowledge, skills and tools” they needed to thrive in today’s “ever-expanding” digital world. It recently celebrated its 20th year.
However, with its European Funding coming to an end, a new report was commissioned to investigate the effectiveness of the initiative.
The headline figures showed that it’s set to achieve a Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) of 11.44:1, meaning that for every £1 of investment into the initiative, it will bring £11.44 in economic returns within the Tees Valley economy.
It is forecast to have supported around £52.968m in cumulative net Gross Value Added within the regional economy.
As a result it has been characterised as “outstanding value for money.”
“We are delighted by the figures and tremendous feedback presented as an outcome of this summative assessment of DigitalCity. It is a collective effort that goes into running such an impactful project, and these results demonstrate the need for such support mechanisms for the Tees Valley digital and creative clusters,” said Lynsey Robinson, Director of DigitalCity.
“With the European Regional Development Fund ending, we acknowledge that the fantastic team at DigitalCity will no doubt continue to mentor, support and advise local digital leaders.”
To date it’s received £1.9m funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2019-2023.
