Durham Smart County: an emerging Area of Innovation with an STP at its heart

This paper will trace the development of the North East Technology Park (NETPark) from a campus-based STP, to a “campus plus” STP, to one element in an emerging Area of Innovation: “Durham Smart County”. It then details some current experimental thinking around how the transformation from sector-led, technology-push innovation to challenge-led, market-pull innovation could end up transforming and empowering deprived communities: the “Innovation Crowd”.