Digital Catapult Delivers a Digital Renaissance

Posted 28 Nov 2022

Jeremy Silver, CEO of Digital Catapult, calls for a more empathetic approach to building businesses in the emerging new markets for metaverses and digital twins. In his new book, Towards a Digital Renaissance, Silver traces the evolution of values and business from nascent cyberspace and the music industry of the noughties through to today’s emerging metaverses.

Through the stories of four different businesses, Towards a Digital Renaissance examines the interplay between founders and investors in the digital sector. It looks at the role of public funding to support private investment and how the style of the Silicon Valley way now needs to be reassessed and replaced by something with a better balance between the drive to scale and the humanity of stakeholders. The book points to the emerging future markets of the metaverse and digital twins as a new opportunity to change the way in which business models work to make more responsible use of powerful new technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

Published by Profile Books, Towards a Digital Renaissance’s first chapter can be read here. The book will be launched on 30 November at Digital Catapult’s offices in the Kings Cross Knowledge Quarter at an event hosted by writer Sumit Paul-Choudhury, former Editor-in-Chief at New Scientist Magazine. Register for the launch event here.

We are standing on the shoulders of giants, such as Professor Jeremy Bailenson of Stanford University who is taking a potentially dystopian technology and examining how it can be a force for good in society, for the economy and for the environment. Towards a Digital Renaissance examines the ethics of digital growth and casts a vision of a more empathetic future through the metaverse. The book argues that bigger is not always better, and Towards a Digital Renaissance lays out hope for a future where new UK companies might play a leading role in tech for good.
Jeremy Silver CEO, Digital Catapult

Jeremy Silver, CEO of Digital Catapult, is an entrepreneur, author and angel investor. He is a Trustee of the British Library and a member of the UK Creative Industries Council. He was previously Executive Chairman of Semetric (acquired by Apple), founder CEO of Featured Artists Coalition (FAC), a strategic advisor to Shazam (acquired by Apple), and CEO of Sibelius Software (acquired by Avid). He was also Worldwide Vice-President of New Media for EMI Group in Los Angeles and Head of Media at Virgin Records where he worked with Genesis, Massive Attack, Brian Eno and Bryan Ferry, among others. Jeremy has spoken at TEDx, the Houses of Parliament, the CBI, SXSW and Midem among many trade events and is an Industry Fellow at the University of Glasgow.

Digital Catapult is the UK authority on advanced digital technology, accelerating early industry adoption of new technologies to drive opportunity and growth across the UK economy. Under Jeremy’s leadership, Digital Catapult has supported UK startups in raising £577m in the past five years. Part of the Catapult Network, established by Innovate UK, Digital Catapult has 70 innovation projects currently running and 20 technology facilities across the UK.

Digital Catapult Delivers a Digital Renaissance

Towards a Digital Renaissance

Towards a Digital Renaissance book launch

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