The UK will be “one of the top three places in the world to create, invest in and scale-up a fast-growing technology business” by 2035, under government plans outlined on Monday.
With its industrial strategy published (160-page / 15.6MB PDF), the government has identified eight sectors of the UK economy that it will provide priority support to, whether through direct public funding or via other measures aimed at, for example, bolstering skills, improving access to finance, removing regulatory burdens, and catalysing private investment. One of those sectors is digital and technologies.
In a sector-specific action plan (74-page / 13.1MB PDF) accompanying the main strategy paper, the government outlined plans to support growth in advanced connectivity technologies, AI, cybersecurity, engineering biology, quantum technologies, and semiconductors, via a range of measures, from providing additional investment for research and development (R&D) and delivering pro-innovation regulation, to helping businesses access private capital and a skilled workforce. Further measures are aimed at enhancing infrastructure and developing international partnerships.
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One specific measure confirmed by the government includes £670 million of funding to drive the development and adoption of quantum computers in UK. The announcement builds on the government’s recent spending review, when it pledged up to £750m for a new supercomputer at Edinburgh University – described by the government as an asset that “will give scientists in all UK universities access to computational power that can be found in only a handful of other nations”.
Other measures outlined in the new strategy that reflect earlier announced initiatives include £1bn to support the scaling up of AI Research Resource, which was established under the previous government to provide so-called ‘super-computer’ support for AI research, as well as up to £500 million for the creation of a new UK Sovereign AI Unit to help new UK-based AI companies emerge.
The government said that, by 2030, it hopes “several” new ‘AI growth zones’ will be operational, enhancing AI infrastructure capacity. AI growth zones is a concept that was proposed in the AI opportunities action plan published earlier this year. It is envisaged that data centres will be developed at speed within these new zones.
The government will also invest in a new UK Semiconductor Centre, which, among other things, will “develop long-term R&D and infrastructure roadmaps to guide future investment in semiconductors”. A further £12m investment in UK data sharing infrastructure initiatives is also earmarked. These initiatives, the government said, “will promote effective and more coordinated approaches to governance, legal considerations, regulations, data interoperability, security, and trust”.
Technology law expert Simon Colvin of Pinsent Masons said: “It’s positive to see such emphasis being placed on these sectors of technology and the proposed investment in infrastructure, skills and training. Setting the UK ahead in key areas such as AI, data sharing and cybersecurity will be important for investors as well as citizens.”
Peter Kyle, UK technology secretary, said: “We must secure our position as creators and builders of new technology instead of just being swept along by the waves of economic and societal change it drives. That is the only way to make sure that working people can truly benefit.”
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