Birmingham to lead national conversation on digital innovation and inclusive growth

Birmingham will set out its ambition to use digital innovation to unlock investment, improve decision-making and ensure economic growth delivers opportunities for communities across the city.

Birmingham City Council is supporting the 4th Annual UK: Digital Twin 2026 Conference and Exhibition at Millennium Point on 11 November, with pre-conference workshops taking place on 10 November.

The event will bring together leaders from local government, universities, industry and technology organisations to explore how digital innovation can support better planning, infrastructure, transport and regeneration.

Andrew Williams, Birmingham City Council's Director of Economy and Skills, will deliver a keynote setting out how Birmingham intends to harness digital innovation to support inclusive growth and regeneration.

Birmingham is undergoing significant transformation, from Curzon and HS2, Digbeth and Smithfield to the Knowledge Quarter, Sports Quarter, East Birmingham and Tyseley. The council's message will be clear: growth must not only attract investment but also create meaningful opportunities for the people and communities of Birmingham.

Digital Twin technology offers the potential to bring together information about development, transport, infrastructure, investment, skills and communities, giving the council and its partners a better understanding of how decisions in one part of the city affect another.

This could help Birmingham plan more effectively, coordinate investment and ensure major regeneration projects are better connected to employment, skills, transport and neighbourhood priorities.

Alongside its regeneration programme, Birmingham has major strengths in advanced manufacturing, health innovation, technology and higher education, as well as significant public and private sector investment. This provides an opportunity for the city to become a national testbed for how digital innovation can support better economic, social and environmental outcomes.

Councillor Harris Khaliq, Cabinet Member for City Services and Digital, said: "Birmingham is changing rapidly, but for me the test of that change is simple: does it improve people's lives?

"Growth cannot just be about new buildings, cranes on the skyline or investment announcements. It has to mean better jobs, new skills, improved transport and stronger neighbourhoods for the people who already call Birmingham home.

"Technology can help us get there, but technology is not the destination. We should use it to understand our city better, make smarter decisions and ensure investment reaches the communities that need to benefit from it.

"Birmingham has the scale and ambition to lead this conversation nationally. I want us working with our universities, businesses, investors and communities to show how innovation can help build a city where growth is not only bigger, but fairer and more inclusive."

The conference comes as Birmingham continues a major programme of regeneration and economic transformation which will shape the city for decades to come.

The council will use the conference to invite investors, universities, technology companies and public sector partners to work with Birmingham and demonstrate what digitally enabled, inclusive growth can achieve at city scale.

Find out more about the conference programme and register at the UK: Digital Twin 2026 Conference website .^[1]