Tag Archives: manufacturing

The Missing Layer in the West Midlands Tech Narrative: Cyber as Industrial Resilience Infrastructure

The West Midlands is increasingly positioning itself as a technologically advanced industrial economy shaped by AI, digitisation and interconnected operational systems. However, much of the regional technology narrative still underestimates the importance of cyber resilience as a foundational element of economic infrastructure. As manufacturing, logistics and supply chains become more digitally dependent, cyber resilience is rapidly becoming inseparable from industrial continuity, competitiveness and long-term regional economic capability. Welcome to my review of TechWM’s “West Midlands Tech Review 2026 (WMTR26)”

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Super-Productive WM Cyber Day: Reflections from the Tech Transformation Summit, Innovation Fest and the SWBH NHS Charity Quiz Night

A reflection on a uniquely busy West Midlands cyber and technology day spanning the Tech Transformation Summit, BCU Innovation Fest and the SWBH NHS Charity Quiz Night. Covering cyber resilience, leadership, AI, workforce transformation, industrial resilience, and the growing regional cyber ecosystem, the article explores how operational resilience is increasingly a human, organisational, and economic challenge rather than a purely technical one.

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JLR Bail Out: When £1.5 Billion Doesn’t Fix the Problem

A £1.5B response to supply chain disruption risks masking a deeper structural problem in UK manufacturing. Cyber risk is systemic, flowing both upstream and downstream across interconnected supply chains, with SMEs bearing a disproportionate impact. The West Midlands, though not yet cyber-affluent, can lead by building coordinated regional capability, shifting focus from reactive recovery to operational resilience, visibility, and cluster-driven economic stability.

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Industry contributions to the UK economy and investment in R&D; by industry

A critical look at the imbalance in the UK economy, highlighting the disproportionate contribution of the services sector to GDP and the overconcentration of R&D investment in manufacturing. It warns that this structural imbalance makes the UK vulnerable to economic shocks and calls for a more diverse and innovation-driven industrial strategy.

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