TechUK announced the publication of its UK tech plan on the 6th of June 2023. Alongside a thousand members of SMEs, global businesses etc., the plan lays out ideas for the next incoming government on “digital regulation, economic reform and public service reform” to leverage technology for a “better Britain”.
The plan determines 18 areas that it calls ‘summary of opportunities’. This includes making the UK one of the most trusted, safe and secure places online, making sure everyone has access to the online world, growing tech clusters across the country and digitising the day-today economy to help small businesses embrace the AI revolution.
Commenting on this, Matt Hmoud, Head of Security Consulting at Adarma said:
“The UK tech plan has outlined the opportunity that can be realised through the increasing pace and power of technology innovation which will drive opportunities and investments in the UK economy.
As individuals, organisations and Government face the challenges of rising interest rates and inflation, the Cyber Security industry will need to challenge itself to deliver cost effective, efficient services that support innovation and growth, whilst delivering highly capable cyber resilient services in a rapidly evolving environment.”
Javvad Malik, lead security awareness advocate at KnowBe4 adds:
“TechUK’s ‘UK Tech Plan’ proposal is a step towards building a better and tech-driven Britain. However, the success of this plan is contingent on a profound understanding of technology and the pertinent challenges within its wider ecosystem. The reality is that many politicians currently lack fundamental knowledge and awareness of the tech industries, and proposals such as wanting backdoors in encryption could be detrimental to the plan’s success.
Therefore, there’s an urgent need for public and private partnerships to build knowledge-sharing communities and adopt a more pragmatic approach. This would allow the government and other key stakeholders to keep up with changing technology trends. Achieving this would require the coming together of tech and non-tech sectors, pooling our resources and sharing that knowledge so that collectively, we can address the challenges in the UK’s technology sector.
We must also recognise that the lack of tech innovation is not always down to a lack of available tech tools. Instead, more often, it’s because the knowledge and understanding of how best to utilise technology is missing. This is where improving digital literacy comes in, an aspect that a ‘UK Tech Plan’ must take into consideration. By offering better education in digital skills such as coding and cybersecurity, we can cultivate a new generation of skilled professionals. Ones who can help realise the full potential of available technological advancements.
Overall, TechUK’s UK tech plan is a clear sign that we need to build a collaborative space to gain a better understanding of the challenges and work towards pragmatic solutions. What we need now is more inclusivity, collaboration and knowledge-sharing from both the public and private sectors to achieve a more sustainable and prosperous future for tech in the UK.”