Prof Nazrul Islam delivers speech at government symposium

Professor Nazrul Islam shared his knowledge and insight at a recent symposium hosted by the UK Government Social Mobility Commission. 

Nazrul Islam, a well-respected academic leader and innovation scholar, Professor of Business and Associate Director at the Centre of FinTech in the Department of Business Entrepreneurship and Finance at UEL’s Royal Docks School of Business and Law (RDSBL), spoke at a high-profile panel on innovation and social mobility at the event in Manchester, which took place in Manchester Hall on Monday 15 September 2025. 

Nazrul shared his insights and expertise on the critical links between innovation, economic growth and upward social mobility, drawing on both his research and his work with communities in East London. Addressing an audience of local and national leading organisations across sectors, academics, parliamentarians and policy makers, he emphasised the need to ensure that innovation fuels inclusive growth across all regions, not just London and the Southeast. 

The panel discussion was chaired by Rob Wilson, former Member of Parliament for Reading East and Minister in the Cameron and May administrations, who spent 12 years as an MP and 10 years serving on the Conservative front bench with roles in higher education, health, DCMS, Treasury and Cabinet Office. Other panel members included Dr Richard Smith, Head of Insight and Intelligence at the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA); Andrew Finlayson, Accenture UK Northwest Regional Lead; and David Richards MBE, who co-founded the company WANdisco in Silicon Valley in 2005, and has since expanded across the UK, Japan and China. 

The conference aimed to increase awareness of the different determinants of social mobility, provide practical insights and strategies on how to improve social mobility in different parts of the country, and to foster conversations across different sectors on how they can remove barriers to opportunity, support economic growth and advance social mobility in deprived areas outside of London and the South East.

Reflecting on the expert panel discussion, Professor Islam said: 

It was a privilege to speak and contribute at this important and timely event, drawing on my experience and knowledge in how businesses can leverage digitalisation for sustainable growth and resilience. As a Senior Academic operating in one of the most diverse and deprived boroughs of London – Newham – I am hugely passionate about removing barriers to opportunity and promoting social mobility. Many UEL students come from low-income backgrounds and are the first in their families to pursue a degree in higher education, so I see every day the impact we can have - transforming lives and widening access to opportunity.”