Technology

Posted on May 8, 2018 by staff

Salford gets first-ever chief digital officer

Technology

The CEO of MediaCityUK’s The Landing has been appointed as Salford’s first-ever chief digital officer to lead the city’s digital transformation.

Jon Corner will play a key role in realising the city’s ambition to design and deliver a digital strategy that will make Salford the most attractive city for digital enterprise.

He has been appointed to the position by Mayor of Salford Paul Dennett alongside the Salford Digital Collaborative.

Corner brings more than 16 years of experience in technology and digital transformation in both the public and private sector.

In his role as CEO of The Landing, he set up and shaped one of the most successful regional and national tech clusters which, in the last three years has grown over 120 new companies and contributed over £89m GVA to the UK digital economy in 2017.

“This new post offers an amazing opportunity to put Salford’s digital ambitions at the forefront,” Corner said.

“It’s an exciting challenge to fully harness the city’s potential and to identify overlapping agendas and collaborations in the region.

“I have some ambitious targets and with some significant pan-region projects already in place around connectivity, digital inclusion, cybersecurity, skills, health innovation and smart cities I’m confident we can make a big impact.”

In 2017, Salford surpassed London as the UK’s leading city for percentage increase in start-up growth and much of this has been attributed to the growth of digital media, healthcare and enterprise in the region.

“This role is crucial for Salford’s future as a leading smart city with digital technology and job creation at its heart,” Paul Dennett said.

“As Chief Digital Officer, Jon will become the glue for collaboration and impact and represent Salford’s interests both locally and internationally as a leading digital city.”