Mapping the Innovation Economy in Surrey

Surrey County Council

Metro Dynamics worked with Surrey County Council to map the spatial distribution of Surrey’s innovation economy. Following a baseline review of national data on the sector make up of Surreys economy and relevant local strategies and policy documents we used data from Data City to map the economic geography of emerging economy businesses.

After agreeing a list of priority sectors and key complementary sectors/technologies to these priorities we mapped the economic geography of individual sectors, overlaying key innovation assets and transport routes. Using a spatial clustering algorithm (DBSCAN) we identified areas with concentrations of businesses in these emerging sectors. This cluster analysis identified several innovation areas in Surrey: places with concentrations of activity in at least one emerging economy sector. This was combined with a wider review of the assets and infrastructure in these places, enabling us to categorise the areas based on the likely support needs of their innovation ecosystems.