The West Midlands has been beaten to the European Capital of Innovation Awards crown by Italian city Turin after the winner was announced at Web Summit.
Yiannis Maos MBE, founder of TechWM, saw the UK region make the final three for the 10th edition of the iCapital awards, an annual recognition prize awarded to cities that best promote innovation in their communities.
Turin will receive £1 million to invest into its tech ecosystem. The other finalist was Espoo (Finland).
Birmingham Tech Week founder Maos, awarded the MBE in last year’s New Year’s Honours for services to the technology sector in Birmingham and the West Midlands, is joining a delegation of businesses from the region at Europe’s biggest tech conference this week.
Victory would have seen Birmingham host the ceremony next year. However Maos told me in Lisbon yesterday that the region is already a winner by attending Web Summit, attended by more than 71,000 people this year. Lisbon won the award in 2023.
“It’s more about the connection to the other finalists and previous recipients of the award,” Maos told me. “This event is about making those global connections to benefit the West Midlands, but also the UK as well.”