This Week SVW Is In London And Cambridge

by Tom Foremski on July 5, 2009 at 2:49 pm

This week I’ll be in London and Cambridge as part of the Traveling Geeks tour. We’ll be meeting with various UK companies and organizations.

I’m particularly interested in the startup culture here in the UK and how it differs from Silicon Valley. I’m always looking for what makes Silicon Valley different from anywhere else and why it is so difficult to create Silicon Valley-like regions around the world.

Clearly, to create a sustainable center of innovation it takes more than building a business park around a university and injecting some startup capital. The answer must lie in the culture of Silicon Valley. But can that culture be exported? Do regional innovation centers have unique cultures specific to their particular brand of innovation?

Maybe I can find out some answers during this trip.

Also, I’ll be posting about some of the companies and personalities I meet during this trip. So please check back regularly. Also, you can follow my colleagues on the Traveling Geeks website and Twitter — and if you get a chance, join us at some of the open evening events. Here is our agenda.

Here is a brief overview. We’ll be at…

A NESTA-sponsored conference about moving forward in the new economy, a U.S./U.K. Speed Date with Seed Camp Winners and UK Leaders; eConsultancy Innovator’s Open Discussion; the TechCrunch Europa Awards; University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School Roundtable on Open Innovation; as well as meetings with Nokia Labs, Microsoft Labs, East of England International, Skype and others.

The blhttpoggers will also be speaking and participating at a Reboot Britain event and the Guardian’s first Media Talk Live event, as well as organizing a TweetUp in central London on the evening of July 5, 2009, which is being sponsored by NESTA and The Conversation Group.

My Twitter is: http://twitter.com/tomforemski

My Friendfeed is: http://friendfeed.com/tomforemski

Twitter hashtag for the trip is #tg2009

Fellow Traveling Geeks:

Robert Scoble

Robert needs no introduction. He is a social media factory!

Blog: Scobleizer.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/scobleizer

Friendfeed: http://friendfeed.com/scobleizer

Craig Newmark

The Craig in Craigslist and a one-man support machine that rivals a dozen call centers.

Blog: cnewmark.com