GREAT Malvern railway station will become the ‘Innovation Station’ next week as part of the town’s popular Festival of Innovation.
West Midlands Railway is an official travel partner for this year’s celebration, with visitors encouraged to use regular ‘innovation shuttles’ to and from the event.
The annual science and technology festival, which is now in its seventh year, will be opening its doors from Monday, October 8 to Saturday, October 13.
This year’s event will open with a talk about robotics from Dr Edmund Hunt, who will be looking at the question of what we can learn about swarms from nature. During the week, other topics covered will include the rise of smart cities, the promise of quantum computing, the challenge of cyber security and the opportunities for bitcoin and blockchains.
Jeff Lynn, the co-founder of equity crowd-funding platform Seedrs, will also speak about his experience as an entrepreneur during the popular ‘Startup Stories’ evening.
The festival also aims to inspire the next generation of innovators, and will be hosting events for schools from around the region during the week.
There will also be an exciting family day taking place on Saturday, October 13.
Steven Fisher, head of on-board experience for West Midlands Railway, said, “Innovation is central to the future of the rail industry.
“We are making £1billion worth of investment into providing new trains and improved stations.
“New ideas and technologies are an essential part of delivering these improvements and festivals like this are an exciting part of building up the next generation of innovators.”
Adrian Burden, founder and curator of the Malvern Festival of Innovation, added: “We need to encourage people from around the country to think creatively and come up with new ideas for compelling products and services.
“We are really pleased West Midlands Railway are helping us to bring visitors from around our region on their Innovation Shuttles and inviting them to alight at the Innovation Station.”
Visit westmidlandsrailway.co.uk/innovationstation for more.
