Wales is a small country, both in terms of population and geographic size, but when it comes to innovation we punch above our weight.

As a director of the ESTnet (the technology network for Wales) and a representative of Wales Festival of Innovation, I can testify that a significant proportion of that effort originates in the Gwent region.

However, the sad fact is that all too often, our national legacy of innovation seems to go unrecognised.

It could be argued that we in Wales are slow to promote our successes within the UK, and worse still within Wales itself.

This is compounded by the fact that often Cardiff is seen to attract a disproportionate amount of attention, with the rest of the country seemingly ignored.

The fact is that organisations in Cardiff are indeed doing great work, but the notion that nothing innovative happens outside of the capital is absolute nonsense.

As a director of the ESTnet, I’m tasked with representing the interests of tech companies across Wales who design, develop, manufacture and integrate advanced technologies.

Much of my time is spent speaking with tech businesses across Wales, and can attest that ground-breaking innovation exists throughout our country.

This innovation spans almost, if not every sector, and the advancements made here are utilised across the globe.

Newport itself is home to many of Wales’ foremost innovators, many of which are regraded to be at the fore of pioneering developments in their respective sectors.

This includes SPTS Technologies Ltd (an Orbotech Company), a leading global supplier of advanced wafer processing solutions for the semiconductor market.

IQE, which sits on the border of Cardiff and Newport, is the world-leading manufacturer of compound semiconductors, which are used in smartphones around the globe. When you access the internet on your smartphone, this would not be possible without their compound semiconductors.

North Wales is a burgeoning opto-electronics and photonics hub, bolstered by funding from the UK Government, as well as the academic community; Glyndwr University which supports the growth of the North Wales sector by providing office space to fledgling companies.

These are just a few examples of the innovative work going on outside Cardiff. However, we also can’t discount the fact that Cardiff has a global profile; it’s a brand that puts Wales on the map.

Historically, Wales has a proud tradition of heavy industry, with mining and steel the backbone of the country’s economy for so long. Yet, as recent headlines show, these industries faced increased pressures from off-shoring, cheaper products from foreign markets, and we must get smart in order to push on through. This is where innovation comes in.

Innovation allows traditional industries to modernise and compete with their foreign counterparts, it also drives the economy to develop and grow in new sectors to replace the financial hit taken by the decline of heavy industry. It’s crucial that we ensure Wales contribution is recognised.

I think a big part of the problem is that people doing ground-breaking or innovative work in Wales often fail to shout about it, which is why myself and a number of others founded the Wales Festival of Innovation three years ago.

The idea is that companies, organisations, and academic institutions all across Wales throw open their doors to the general public during this two-week period from June 20 to July 1, and show off the innovative work that they do.

Hopefully, this will allow those in innovative sectors to not only shout about their own projects, but also to learn about more innovative work going on all across the country. The hard work is already happening. Now we just need to make sure the rest of the world knows about it.

The Wales Festival of Innovation will take place at locations all over Wales from Monday July 20, 2016. To see the list of events, visit the Wales Festival of Innovation website: www.festivalofinnovation.org/