7 Reasons Why East London Will Never Replace Silicon Valley as World's Technology Capital

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Silicon Valley has long been known as the premier center of technological innovation and discovery. However, London (particularly East London) has recently been emerging as a serious power player in the field of technology. Most of this is due to the city’s becoming a substantial financial hub, which has allowed for more capital to fund research and tech start-up companies. But, there are several reasons why East London will never be able to surpass Silicon Valley in terms of technology prowess and achievement:

1. East London doesn’t have the right environment to house powerful technological companies. Silicon Valley has the advantage of being home to several large tech companies, including HP and Intel. London, on the other hand, doesn’t enjoy this advantage – it remains to be seen if the city can compensate for this through other initiatives.
2. Silicon Valley has the ability to commercialize; London does not. This is due to many factors. For instance, for the most part, London’s community of investors does not provide businesses with significant funding. In addition, many London universities are very focused on research, as opposed to innovation.
3. Many of London’s top-ranking officials and prominent habitants do not support the notion of “Tech City”. British Prime Minister David Cameron’s plan to rename East London “Tech City” (in hopes of creating a technologically-based part of the city) has not been met with acclaim from many people. Most opponents are saying that the plans for Tech City are a bit too abstract and lacking in great detail and ambition.
4. London’s culture isn’t conducive to becoming a technological hub. There is a bit of an aversion to taking large risks in popular London culture, especially when it comes to business ventures. In addition, the world of business in London is quite formal and stylized; generally speaking, it isn’t a culture that is conducive to producing creativity and innovation – at least when compared to Silicon Valley.
5. Silicon Valley is home to innovators and serious tech talent that is unrivaled by anything East London has to offer. The region that Silicon Valley is located in is flush with facilities and laboratories, such as Livermore Laboratory, Travis Air Force Base and the University of California Berkeley. East London does have Cambridge University, but that’s about it.
6. There are many top-notch universities in and around the Silicon Valley area. The fact is, because there are so many high-ranking universities in the Silicon Valley region, there are more college graduates being trained for managerial positions, engineering jobs, and other technological positions. These former students are funded by the many venture capitalists in the area, and ultimately go on to work as executives and managers at big-name firms. This cycle repeats, and repeats over the years. This is simply not the case in London.
7. You can’t plan for Silicon Valley’s level of success – it just happens. It’s important to remember that the technological success that Silicon Valley has enjoyed wasn’t exactly a thought-out endeavor. Things happened in the right place, at the right time.

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