A new partnership now connects Hammersmith & Fulham with the Italian city of Milan.
The international agreement was signed in H&F's White City Innovation District on Wednesday (12 June). It was attended by Italian ambassador to the UK, Inigo Lambertini, and Igor De Biasio, CEO of Milan Innovation District (MIND).
The collaboration is set to boost the innovation districts in White City and Milan, while strengthening H&F's place as a global economic hotspot offering the jobs of the future to local residents.
"Today is an important milestone for us," said Igor De Biasio. "We know that innovation is something that we can create and foster only with other important partners – and White City is this kind of partner for us."
The event was followed by a tour of H&F Council's new £150million EdCity development, Imperial College London's Translation & Innovation Hub (I-Hub), and White City Place – home to ITV and BBC Studioworks.
Shared vision
The new partner districts have a shared focus on life sciences and tech. The partnership is a chance to share best practice on how to nurture innovation ecosystems in those fields.
Like White City, the Milan district is set to become a "centre of scientific excellence" complete with a teaching hospital, STEM campus of the local university and research institute offering 35,000sqm of lab space.
"We're leveraging these anchor institutions to increase the attractiveness of our district," De Biasio added.
Both areas boast industry leaders such as L'Oreal, NATO and Novartis in White City, and AstraZeneca, Illumina, and E.ON in Milan.
They are complemented by start-ups and scale-ups that are spinning out from their local universities and shaping the technologies of the future.
By promoting research-business collaboration, the districts help boost inclusive and sustainable economic growth. This includes foreign investments, job creation and opportunities for local talent in future-focused fields.
"Currently, 10,000 people work in our innovation district," De Biasio said. "By 2032, we expect that number to reach 70,000."
Inclusive growth through collaboration
This is the latest in a series of international cooperation agreements H&F has made with innovation districts in other liberal democracies.
It joins H&F's partnerships with:
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Barcelona City Council, Spain
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Lillestrøm municipality (Oslo), Norway
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Karnataka, India.
Collaboration is an integral pillar of H&F's pioneering Industrial Strategy, which has helped create 8,000 new jobs in science, tech, engineering, medicine and media and attract £6billion in investment for high growth sectors – more investment than all other West London boroughs combined.
H&F has pledged to create a further 6,000 STEMMM jobs by 2026.
