techUK Report - Seven Tech Priorities for the next Government
techUK is excited to announce its latest report, Seven Tech Priorities for Government, supported by polling from Public First.
In June 2023, techUK published our UK Tech Plan. The Plan set out a range of opportunities that the next Government could seize by working with the tech sector to confront the challenges our country faces.
Since the Tech Plan was published, and as the applications of technologies such as AI have become more widely recognised, politicians are increasingly turning towards technology and innovation to boost economic growth and help overcome challenges in the public sector such as health, education, justice, and the drive for net zero.
Example: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt MP has set an aim to position the UK as the next Silicon Valley with the Government enacting reforms to create a regulatory and funding environment designed to support the growth of technologies with a high potential in the UK for example AI and bio technologies.
Example: Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting MP has regularly talked about the need for reform of the NHS to improve the use of technology. Highlighting that 80% of NHS Trusts are still using pagers and that a report by Progressive Policy Research shows that automation could save the NHS up to £12.5 billion in staff time.
However, with an election on the horizon, tech business leaders will want our politicians to set out the detail of how they will remove the barriers to the ambitions of tech sector leaders and take action to address the threats to their success, enabling the full benefits of technological innovation for the UK.
How Technological Innovation is Already Helping the UK
Caring for an ageing population: Virtual wards are making it easier to care for people in the community, saving the health system up to £2,000 per patient per annum. Additionally, more than four in five NHS workers believe greater investment in technology can help to attract people into the NHS.
Growing the economy: Generative AI is already helping boost productivity, with a recent survey showing it can increase productivity by up to 14%, with more junior workers benefiting the most, as staff reclaim time to train and upskill.
Reducing the cost of public services: Digital IDs are reducing the cost of and accelerating delivery of public services, with people in Scotland for example no longer having to travel into council buildings to verify their identity for a range of services, saving both the public and local authorities time and money.
Driving forward the net zero transition: Internet of things and Artifical Intelligence technologies are already making energy and carbon savings. 62% of manufactures who have adopted digital technologies reported savings of between £10,000-£100,000 on their balance sheets over the past 12 months.
How is the UK tech sector feeling ahead of an election?
In February 2024, techUK and Public First surveyed 250 leaders from the wider tech sector. They told us that the UK has built a competitive business environment that is comparatively easy to operate in, supported by strong demand for tech products and services as well as positive ecosystem effects.
However, businesses are concerned about the costs of doing business in the UK. High energy costs, the current level of business taxes, the impact of interest rates and regulatory burdens are all cited as challenges to growth. Additionally, existing structural barriers that we identified in our Tech Plan, such as access to procurement contracts and the lagging digitisation of the UK economy, remain.
Despite these barriers, there is an enormous growth opportunity for the UK. The tech leaders we surveyed said their number one ambition over the next five years was to grow their business, while over three quarters said they had plans or were likely to consider expanding their business internationally.
Removing the barriers to growth and enabling technological innovation and deployment in the UK
Building on the work of our UK Tech Plan, techUK worked with our members to identify the major barriers to technological innovation and deployment in the UK.
These barriers cut across the economy and present the obstacles to the growth of the tech sector that was picked in our polling.
To overcome these barriers techUK has suggested seven priority actions that the next Government could take early in a new Parliament after the election.
In setting out these recommendations we worked with our members to ensure they are practical, that we show a clear path to implementation and build on what we know is already working, as well as setting out new ideas.
Below we summarise these seven priority actions, as well as our polling with Public First.
You can also download our full report here, as well as access the full tables of our poll here and Headline Findings here.
Seven Tech Priorities at the Tech Policy Leadership Conference
Ahead of an expected General Election techUK ran the third in our series of policy leadership conferences titled, How can the next Government use technology to build a better Britain? The topics discussed were based off of the seven tech priorities document, which was launched at the conference. Speaking on these topics were a variety of expert speakers, industry insiders, as well as key members of the government and shadow cabinet.
See Our Video Content Here
Seven Tech Priorities Introduction
Secretary of State for DSIT Michelle Donelan MP Keynote Speech
AI in the decade ahead: what are the opportunities and challenges for the UK?
How good at tech are we? Ensuring our tech sector remains globally competitive
Deepfakes & disinformation in an election year what will it mean for democracy in the UK and abroad?
What is Britain’s role in a complex & uncertain world of competition and fast technological change?
Does the UK need an industrial strategy for tech
Shadow Secretary of State for DSIT Peter Kyle MP Keynote Speech
