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Located at the heart of UK’s traditional enterprise and science tech belt, Reading has a strong history in digital technology. According to KPMG, Reading is the UK’s number one local authority digital cluster in the UK (almost one-in-five enterprises are tech firms) and the proportion of tech enterprises in Reading is three times the national average.

Reading is home to some of the world’s biggest technology companies including Oracle, Microsoft, Symantec, Huawei and Nvidia and the UK’s pioneering Big Data startup, DataSift, which is based at the enterprise centre in the University of Reading (UoR).

The UoR is home to many science-based specialisms, including climate change and satellite imaging, and has just received funding for a multi-million pound environmental “Big Data” centre.

The startup scene is currently being re-energised by ConnectTVT, which has opened an innovation hub and coworking space. There are also plans to build a lab and space to be shared with an accelerator in 2015. Early stages indicate Big Data, Open Data and Internet of Things (IoT) as particular areas of expertise and a focus on business tech innovation.