No Digital Divide Between Georgia, U.K.

On the same day, the downtown authority agreed to work with technology incubator Four Athens to subsidize rent for tech companies in hopes that they will stay in the city after they grow.

These partnerships are indicative of a natural tech connection between the United Kingdom and Georgia that intensified with the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The country is flexing its muscles as a creative and technology hub, while the state is focusing on video games, movies and other industries where digital innovation is paramount.

That has led to a variety of investments on both sides of the Pond.

Atlanta-based Blinq Media, which manages ad campaigns on Facebook and other social media platforms, set up a London office last year to tap the city's creative energy, said Dave Williams, who was chief executive of the company until it was acquired last week by Gannett Co. for $92 million over three to four years.

As headquarters for many large advertising agencies, many of which have little experience with social media ads, London was poised to be Blinq's base for European expansion, just as New York had been its main focus in the U.S.

After overcoming unexpected hurdles in setting up its local operation, Blinq used London as a laboratory for building a global platform that takes into account the unique traits of each market.

It was nice to go to a place where innovation is ingrained, networking is easy and America is revered for giving the world companies like Google and Facebook, Mr. Williams said.

"We go over there with a little bit of credibility," he said.

It's the same with Brits coming to the U.S.

While Blinq started in the Advanced Technology Development Center at Georgia Institute of Technology and then branched out, London-based creative firm Iris Worldwide came upon Atlanta after first setting up a U.S. presence in New York.

"I just wish we had gone immediately to somewhere like Atlanta because you can stand out in Atlanta and there are so many opportunities and clients there," Iris Joint CEO Ian Millner said in a December interview. "In New York you just get drowned out."

In addition to serving Atlanta-based clients like Coca-Cola, InterContinental Hotels Group and Sony-Ericsson, Iris is partnering with Creative Circus, an Atlanta college, to gain access to talent and improve creative education.

Meanwhile, other Georgia-based companies are finding advantages in the U.K.

Dartfish, a Swiss company with U.S. base in Atlanta, made a big push into London during the Olympics to provide its video analysis help athletes improve performance.

So did Vitrue, an Atlanta-based social marketing company that Oracle Corp. agreed to acquire in May. The firm had a contract to manage all social media outreach for NBC Sports, including the London Olympics. 

Argo Systems Inc., which provides business management software for television networks, put an office in London in May.

The epicenter for London's growth as a tech hub is Shoreditch, an up-and-coming area of East London near the Olympic park.

Some 300 tech companies have already clustered in a district now branded  Tech City, and the government is hoping more will come to capitalize on the area's creative culture and proximity to funding in the City of London, the nearby financial district. 

Though he left seven years ago to pursue new research in the United States, Tom Robertson jumped at the chance for a trip to England.

The Manchester native departed his country as an academic but returned this year as an entrepreneur, seeking ways to use his country as a European springboard for a venture using technology to improve science education.

IS3D was born out of classroom research that showed students were having a tough time understanding how cells work. Teachers wanted a way they could digitally interact with subject matter, Dr. Robertson said.

He had come to the University of Georgia in 2001 to research an equine disease, working with Jim Moore, who pioneered the use of 3D images in veterinary instruction.

Building on that knowledge, Dr. Robertson worked to develop a software gaming platform in which students inhabit virtual worlds as doctors and vets diagnosing illnesses, using vivid graphics and storylines to increase the time students spend writing about scientific topics.

"They absolutely loved it," he said of the students and teachers who took part in the pilot, which led to a $1.3 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

In March, British Consulate General in Atlanta partnered with UGA's technology commercialization office to send Dr. Robertson to the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Liverpool, England.

Although his concept is still developing, Liverpool economic developers were happy to explain their investment incentives and match him with potential investors and partners.

"They were really, really well organized and they've got a really good team there," he said.

Dr. Robertson returned to Liverpool in May and is now working on a new pilot program with University of Liverpool as he applies for a small-business grant from the NIH.

IS3D is just one example of how UGA has partnered with Liverpool.

Evirx, another UGA-based software company that makes cloud-based software to evaluate teachers and trainers, also attended the entrepreneurship congress. Both firms pitched their companies to venture capitalists and angel investors on the sidelines of the event.

As part of a 2009 agreement, UGA and the University of Liverpool have conducted collaborative research on African diasporas, migration, genomics, marine science and many other subjects. They also operate student and faculty exchanges, according to Jane Gatewood, UGA's director of international partnerships.

This week, the Athens Downtown Development Authority approved $10,000 in funding for an Athens franchise of Liverpool Sound City, a three-day festival started in the U.K. that melds music, media, technology and entrepreneurship.

"It's access to markets. It's access to capital. It's access to expertise," said Kristen Hirst, who represents Liverpool Vision, the city's economic development arm, in Atlanta.