Cities and Transport Catapults to join forces Posted on: October 26th, 2018 The Future Cities Catapult and Transport Systems Catapult are set to be merged into a new organisation, it has been announced. The move, which is set to allow them to become more focused on issues around modern and smart cities as well as the future of connectivity, infrastructure and mobility, reflects their joint relevance to the smart places agenda and the potential for collaboration between their work. [emaillocker id=”71749″] The move for the two, who’re set to speak at the inaugural Smart Cities Development Conference, comes after they received Government backing as they’re set to provide £215m to the organisation and the Digital and Medicines Discovering Catapults, as part of its wider investment into the support of its industrial strategy The new organisation is scheduled to be formed by April 2019 and will operate from the existing centres in London and Milton Keynes, with new ones to be added in Glasgow and Leeds. A single board will be formed, with the transition board Chaired by Terry Hill, current chair of the Future Cities Catapult. Nicola Yates, Chief Executive of Future Cities Catapult and keynote speaker at the Smart Cities Development Conference, said: “Our unified Catapult will strengthen the Catapult network enabling these opportunities at the critical interface between urban infrastructure, transport and the urban systems and services that impact upon population health, wellbeing — and the economy of the whole country.” The funding is part of nearly £1 billion committed to the whole network by the chancellor August to support its work for the next five years. You can register for the Smart Cities Development Conference here. [/emaillocker]
