{"id":122174,"date":"2019-06-10T13:50:07","date_gmt":"2019-06-10T13:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/"},"modified":"2019-06-10T13:50:07","modified_gmt":"2019-06-10T13:50:07","slug":"uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"UK cant make up its mind on tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

Digital Politics is a column about the global intersection of technology and the world of politics.<\/em><\/p>\n

LONDON \u2014 Theres a lot Britain cant agree on. Brexit<\/a>. Who should be the countrys next prime minister. Jeremy Corbyns leadership of the Labour Party.<\/p>\n

Add to that list: What to do about tech<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This week, London \u2014 still Europes tech capital despite the ongoing political uncertainty \u2014 will play host to its annual \u201ctech week<\/a>\u201d \u2014 part marketing ploy, part cheerleading fest to showcase what the British capital, and the rest of the country, has to offer when it comes to glitzy startups, venture capital investment and government support for the digital economy.<\/p>\n

Yet in Westminsters halls of power, the hipster mecca of East London and the well-heeled offices of Mayfair, two rival factions are bickering over the health of the U.K.s tech sector \u2014 and how it will fare once the country eventually leaves the European Union.<\/p>\n

On one side are the optimists, those who cite the countrys record tech investment figures since it voted for Brexit in 2016 as a sign that everything is going great. They dismiss the current political impasse as a mere speed bump on the road to the U.K. putting tech at the center of its future industrial strategy.<\/p>\n

Surely it doesnt have to be a binary choice between pro-industry public policies and arguably one of the toughest regulatory clampdowns anywhere in the Western world?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

On the other side stand the pessimists, who fret about the gradual slowdown of highly educated (European) tech migrants rocking up to fill much-needed jobs in both startups and legacy tech companies. On top of that, the governments aggressive push to regulate the industry \u2014 everything from proposed new digital taxes<\/a> on Big Tech to greater policing<\/a> of peoples social media chatter \u2014 has raised eyebrows about its future support for local tech.<\/p>\n

The stakes could not be higher.<\/p>\n

The U.K. government has largely bet its economic future on the countrys burgeoning digital sector. And so far, it cant make up its mind whether to double down on its assistance for local firms and international giants like Google and Facebook \u2014 be it through hundreds of millions of pounds of public funding or high-profile digital skills programs \u2014 or fall in line with politicians worldwide and the growing \u201ctechlash<\/a>\u201d against all things digital.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey really need to attract investment funds to make sure the tech sector keeps growing,\u201d said Luca Schiavoni, a digital regulation analysts at Assembly Research<\/a>, a consultancy firm in London. \u201cBut at the same time, its really difficult to run into someone in Westminster who believes the tech sector doesnt need more regulation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Case for the optimists<\/h3>\n

Surely it doesnt have to be a binary choice between pro-industry public policies and arguably one of the toughest regulatory clampdowns anywhere in the Western world?<\/p>\n

But just like the other hot-button socioeconomic topics now confronting the British public, what to \u201cdo\u201d about tech needs an answer. And it needs one quickly.<\/p>\n

Whats muddying the waters is how the local tech scene has fared since the 2016 Brexit referendum. Depending on whom you talk to, the countrys digital economy is either full steam ahead or rocketing toward a cliff edge.<\/p>\n

Figures published on Monday by TechNation (a quasi-government entity) paint a rosy picture<\/a>, with U.K. venture capital investment last year hitting $8.7 billion \u2014 easily outmatching France and Germany to claim the top spot in European tech funding. The number of U.K. startups worth at least $1 billion in 2018 also reached 13, more than all similar fledgling firms in Germany, Israel and Sweden combined.<\/p>\n

On top of that, local lawmakers have earmarked hundreds of millions of additional funding<\/a> through the British Business Bank (another quasi-government institution) to help local techies, as well as a further \u00a3153 million in government funding, announced Monday for next-generation computing technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce youve got the basics like rule of law and functioning democracy, startups arent going to do badly or well just because of the political situation,\u201d \u2014 Martin Mignot, French partner at Index Ventures<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Industry veterans \u2014 many of whom invested locally, so have skin in the game to play up the positives \u2014 also highlight Londons continued ability to attract top talent as reasons why Westminsters disjointed approach to the sector should not be cause for concern.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.K. is not the only country having a problem with politics,\u201d said Martin Mignot, a French partner at Index Ventures, a London-based fund whose investments include TransferWise<\/a>, a successful local foreign currency exchange startup, and Net-A-Porter<\/a>, the British e-commerce giant. \u201cBut once youve got the basics like rule of law and functioning democracy, startups arent going to do badly or well just because of the political situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Case for the pessimists<\/h3>\n

Not everyone is so sanguine.<\/p>\n

While the U.K. government has increased<\/a> the number of visas for foreign nationals looking to start a tech (or other) buRead More \u2013 Source<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

[contf] [contfnew] <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Digital Politics is a column about the global intersection o..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":122175,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech"],"yoast_head":"\nUK cant make up its mind on tech - Business News Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Digital Politics is a column about the global intersection o..\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK cant make up its mind on tech - Business News Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Digital Politics is a column about the global intersection o..\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Business News Report\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Business-NewsReport-328225811095934\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-10T13:50:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-1086152010.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"3500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"infopal11\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BNReport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BNReport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"infopal11\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"infopal11\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19d1c5a2dd7f60584a09de4a7805d68f\"},\"headline\":\"UK cant make up its mind on tech\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-10T13:50:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":822,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/GettyImages-1086152010.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Tech\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\\\/\",\"name\":\"UK cant make up its mind on tech - Business News Report\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/GettyImages-1086152010.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-10T13:50:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"Digital Politics is a column about the global intersection o..\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/GettyImages-1086152010.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2019\\\/06\\\/GettyImages-1086152010.jpg\",\"width\":3500,\"height\":2333},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u0627\u0644\u0631\u0626\u064a\u0633\u064a\u0629\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UK cant make up its mind on tech\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Business News Report\",\"description\":\"Latest News on the World of Politics & Business\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u0628\u0632\u0646\u0633 \u0631\u064a\u0628\u0648\u0631\u062a \u0627\u0644\u0627\u062e\u0628\u0627\u0631\u064a\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/LOGO2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/LOGO2.png\",\"width\":200,\"height\":50,\"caption\":\"\u0628\u0632\u0646\u0633 \u0631\u064a\u0628\u0648\u0631\u062a \u0627\u0644\u0627\u062e\u0628\u0627\u0631\u064a\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/Business-NewsReport-328225811095934\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/BNReport\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/business.newsreport\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/19d1c5a2dd7f60584a09de4a7805d68f\",\"name\":\"infopal11\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.bnreport.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/infopal11\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UK cant make up its mind on tech - Business News Report","description":"Digital Politics is a column about the global intersection o..","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UK cant make up its mind on tech - Business News Report","og_description":"Digital Politics is a column about the global intersection o..","og_url":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/","og_site_name":"Business News Report","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Business-NewsReport-328225811095934\/","article_published_time":"2019-06-10T13:50:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":3500,"height":2333,"url":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-1086152010.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"infopal11","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@BNReport","twitter_site":"@BNReport","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"infopal11","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/"},"author":{"name":"infopal11","@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/19d1c5a2dd7f60584a09de4a7805d68f"},"headline":"UK cant make up its mind on tech","datePublished":"2019-06-10T13:50:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/"},"wordCount":822,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-1086152010.jpg","articleSection":["Tech"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/","name":"UK cant make up its mind on tech - Business News Report","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-1086152010.jpg","datePublished":"2019-06-10T13:50:07+00:00","description":"Digital Politics is a column about the global intersection o..","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-1086152010.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/GettyImages-1086152010.jpg","width":3500,"height":2333},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/uk-cant-make-up-its-mind-on-tech\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u0627\u0644\u0631\u0626\u064a\u0633\u064a\u0629","item":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UK cant make up its mind on tech"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/","name":"Business News Report","description":"Latest News on the World of Politics & Business","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/#organization","name":"\u0628\u0632\u0646\u0633 \u0631\u064a\u0628\u0648\u0631\u062a \u0627\u0644\u0627\u062e\u0628\u0627\u0631\u064a","url":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/LOGO2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/LOGO2.png","width":200,"height":50,"caption":"\u0628\u0632\u0646\u0633 \u0631\u064a\u0628\u0648\u0631\u062a \u0627\u0644\u0627\u062e\u0628\u0627\u0631\u064a"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Business-NewsReport-328225811095934\/","https:\/\/x.com\/BNReport","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/business.newsreport"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/19d1c5a2dd7f60584a09de4a7805d68f","name":"infopal11","url":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/author\/infopal11\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/122175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}