The Sheffield Digital story, the UK Tech Cluster Group and developing the Sheffield innovation ecosystem with Mel Kanarek at Sheffield Digital

We're joined by Mel Kanarek, Digital Economy Specialist and Director at Sheffield Digital.

Mel began her career in the music, fashion and consumer goods industries, but has always been far more interested in business to business and technology. In the early 1990s, Mel was able to combine these elements by working at a PR firm focused on B2B tech, experiencing the dot com boom and bust and Y2K.

In a wide-ranging career, Mel has been an agency MD, run her own business, and been involved in start-ups.

Mel returned to Sheffield in the mid-noughties and started to get involved in the city and wider region’s small business scene, using her marketing and business experience to help people develop and grow their businesses.

By doing this in and around Sheffield, Mel built a strong understanding of the local tech ecosystem, and that’s mostly what she’s focused on now. Though officially “retired”, Mel is still actively involved in the Sheffield, South Yorkshire and broader UK tech scene, particularly through her roles with Sheffield Digital and The UK Tech Cluster Group.

In the episode we cover:

Sheffield Digital
• The Sheffield Digital story and how the organisation came about
• How Sheffield Digital has evolved over the last (nearly) ten years
• The vision for the future of Sheffield Digital

The UK Tech Cluster Group
• What is the UK Tech Cluster Group
• How Mel got involved in representing South Yorkshire
• The purpose of the UK Tech Cluster Group

Sheffield Ecosystem
• Mel’s work developing the Sheffield technology, digital and broader business ecosystem, and her goals and some of the challenges she’s met
• The different components and players in the ecosystem
• Sheffield’s “marketing challenge”
• Mel’s view on what a thriving innovation ecosystem looks like, and how that story can be told
• What people should be excited about when it comes to Sheffield

Find Mel on LinkedIn here.

Find Sheffield Digital on LinkedIn here and visit their website here.