Liverpool is chosen from a shortlist of 15 cities around the world as a winner of the first ‘City of Innovation’ award by the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organisation. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool is officially a global ‘City of Innovation’ after being chosen from a shortlist that included 15 cities from around the world.
The United Nations World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) named Liverpool as the first ever City of Innovation, alongside Shanghai (China) and Charleroi (Belgium).
A nine-strong international, independent jury was impressed by Liverpool’s “bold, inclusive vision” of “innovating for tomorrow”.
This bid was led by Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and Knowledge Quarter Liverpool, supported by Liverpool City Council and Sci-Tech Daresbury.
Liverpool pledged to scale up activities to unlock the creative and growth potential of its diverse communities and business base, to further transform the entire city region. It comes less than a year after the city was named as European Capital of Innovation runner-up.
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City region Mayor Steve Rotheram said: “I’ve long said that we’re the UK’s innovation capital, and now we’ve got a global award to back it up.
“This award genuinely puts us on the world stage. It recognises what many of us have known for a long time: there’s something special happening here, with world-class science, brilliant businesses and people who aren’t afraid to do things differently.
But we’re not doing all this so we can pick up a trophy and put it on a shelf. It’s about what innovation can do for the lives of ordinary people, creating good, high-value jobs, bringing investment into our communities and finding solutions to some of the biggest challenges we face.”