News | 22 July 2021
Cardiff Metropolitan University is delighted to be a member of the media.cymru Consortium which has won a £50m bid to develop a world-leading cluster for media innovation in the Cardiff Capital Region.
media.cymru brings together 24 organisations from across the Cardiff Capital Region and includes partners working in education, broadcasting, technology, media production and local leadership to drive inclusive, sustainable economic growth and an additional £236m in Gross Value Added (GVA) by 2026.
£22m funding is provided through UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) flagship Strength in Places Fund and match-funded by £3m from Cardiff Capital Region and £2m from Welsh Government through Creative Wales.
Since 2006, the Region has developed one of the strongest media sector growth rates in the UK, attracting one in eight of all new UK jobs in film/TV, producing global successes on film and TV shows including Sex Education, His Dark Materials, Doctor Who and Dream Horse.
Responding to the advances made in remote and virtual production during the Covid-19 pandemic, media.cymru will invest in the Region’s digital infrastructure, focusing on emerging technologies, increasing small businesses’ capacity for innovation and addressing skills needs.
Cardiff Met’s involvement will be led by the University’s award-winning design agency, PDR. Currently ranked number 1 in the UK in the iF World Design Guide Index for 2021, PDR’s design work crosses both academic research and international consultancy with the creation of products, services and organisational development at the heart of many funded research projects.
Professor Jarred Evans, Director of PDR, said: “We are delighted to be part of this exciting partnership and look forward to sharing our expertise for the benefit of the media sector here in Wales.”
“We are used to leading and collaborating on projects funded across the public and private sectors as well as with other academic partners, industry, the public sector and governments. We have a strong track record in supporting and delivering user centred design innovation within organsations and this work will build upon our considerable experience supporting media and creative industry companies in Wales. We are confident and excited to bring our experience and research expertise to this project.”
A series of industry-led challenge areas to be investigated, including sustainability, bilingual production, diversity and inclusion, tourism and technology will position the Region’s media sector as a testbed for new content, approaches and formats.
The media.cymru Consortium members are: Alacrity Foundation, BBC, Boom Cymru, Cardiff Capital Region, Cardiff Council, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cardiff Productions, Cardiff University, Channel 4, Dragon DI, Ffilm Cymru Wales, Gorilla TV, Great Point Media, Nimble Dragon, Object Matrix, Rescape Innovation, Rondo Media, S4C, Shwsh, Town Square Spaces, University of South Wales, Unquiet Media, Wales Interactive and Welsh Government.
