The department for culture, digital and sport is aiming to increase investment into AI, quantum computing and digital health
The department for culture, digital and sport (DCMS) is to unveil plans to boost the UK tech economy following Brexit and the pandemic.
The 50-page digital strategy document, which is expected to draw together a list of existing tech policies into one document, will focus on increasing investment into AI, resources into quantum computing and digital health according to reports.
The strategy is also expected to say the UK needs to strengthen its position globally with next generation semiconductors, after concerns the UK is losing ground to Asia.
Last month, a review was launched into a Chinese-owned company’s takeover of Newport Wafer Lab, a Welsh manufacturer of silicon wafers used in the production of semiconductors.
Some of the policies could be announced during London Tech Week, which begins on June 13 and runs at the same time as similar tech events in Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Dublin and Berlin.
The UK tech sector reached a landmark £1 trillion valuation in March, trailing only the ecosystems of the US and China. It is also currently producing the most tech unicorns in Europe.
According to Tech Nation, the UK is fourth in the world for tech investment at £33.3bn ($40.8bn), having achieved a record year in 2021. Tech scaleups contributed just over half of this investment in 2021, peaking at £16.9bn ($21.2bn).
However, the UK’s earliest-stage tech startups risk being starved of investment according to a report from Google. Its report found the proportion of funding for earliest-stage tech startups fell from 15 per cent of the overall investment in the UK technology sector in 2011 to 4.9 per cent last year.
The news of a new strategy follows calls from CBI last month on the government to “unlock investment in digital” and “build business confidence and willingness to invest by publishing the long-awaited digital strategy.”
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