Most of us already know that the West End is a creative place, but is it be destined to be Australia’s Silicon Valley? Well, the team at hub4101 reckons it could well be, and that the growth in advertising, tech-savvy companies, filmmakers and creative industries, mean that it is already on the way.
Bruce Wolfe, Managing Director of Conrad Gargett, is Hub4101’s inaugural chair. He says that Silicon Valley started as a cluster of similar activity types and businesses and that the same thing could happen here. People with common interests and ambitions, he says, will gravitate towards one another, and that’s how it starts.
In the case of the West End, Wolfe says that Hub4101 merely wants to reinforce something that is already there and make it attractive for others to join. It will be like a ‘loose fit jacket’ over the existing innovative community.
The project is supported and nurtured by Business South Bank, with support from the State Library, The Edge, the ABC, and QPAC. These organisations, Bruce Wolfe says, lend a certain gravitas and legitimacy to the project.
Communications Minister, Malcolm Turnbull added his endorsement for the team’s vision at its launch on October 22.
The group aims to help graduates and people who have ideas they want to develop.
While there is no funding available through hub4101, it will provide a “collective comradery”, assisting with and sharing ideas, and possibly even such practical things as shared spaces. In spite of its name, it does not see itself as exclusive to the 4101 postcode and is also happy to engage with people in other parts of Brisbane who are looking for collaborative support.
Asked whether he thought hub4101 fits into or could shape in any way, the Kuripla Master Plan, Bruce said that would very much depend on how it is being delivered. He said the plan “needs more texture” and he would like to think that the nuances that are the West End will be taken into account when the master plan is rolled out.
You can contact hub4101 via its Facebook and Twitter accounts.
