AWS’s planned investments are estimated to contribute ￡14 billion to the UK’s total GDP over the next five years.
Over the next five years (2024–2028), Amazon Web Services (AWS) intends to invest ￡8 billion in the construction, upkeep, and operation of data centers in the United Kingdom. This investment is a component of the company's long-term commitment to promoting productivity and growth throughout the nation. It is projected to support an average of over 14,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs annually at local UK businesses and add ￡14 billion to the GDP of the UK through 2028. These jobs, which include those in engineering, construction, maintenance of facilities, telecommunications, and other sectors of the local economy, are all connected to the AWS data center supply chain.
Increasing investment in the UK
Since the region's initial launch in December 2016, AWS has worked to expand it to encompass three Availability Zones (AZ), two WaveLength Zones, two Edge Zones, and more. Locations, and a Regional Edge Cache. In In order to help meet its customers' growing needs, AWS has actually invested over ￡3 billion in the UK since the beginning of the decade (2020–2023). An average of over 6,000 full-time employment at nearby companies are thought to have been supported by this investment. When combined with the news made today, AWS will have invested over ￡11 billion in the UK between 2020 and 2028.
These days, AWS is being used by companies of all sizes and in all sectors of the economy, including the biggest corporations, the fastest-growing startups, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), public sector organizations, government agencies, and educational institutions. AWS is being used by clients like Sainsbury's, NatWest Group, AstraZeneca, Cancer Research UK, Deliveroo, easyJet, EDF, Genomics England, Just Eat, Monzo, Natural History Museum, UK Biobank, The Very Group, Swindon Borough Council, and Zilch to reduce costs, increase agility, and accelerate innovation.
"This ￡8 billion Amazon Web Services investment marks the start of the economic revival and shows Britain is a place to do business," said Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer. I applaud the declaration as a component of the Government’s mission to boost growth, unlock investment and make every part of Britain better off.”
"Today's announcement reflects the growing strength of the UK's digital economy with a key player like Amazon Web Services committing to growing and expanding on our shores," stated Peter Kyle, the secretary of technology. I am dedicated to promoting digital innovation as the Secretary of Technology in order to make a positive impact on people's lives and standard of living. To expand our digital economy and spur innovation, innovators must have access to the infrastructure needed, from boosting processing power to opening up AI.
"The next few years could be among the most pivotal for the UK's digital and economic future," stated Tanuja Randery, Vice President and Managing Director, Amazon Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA). "Organizations of all sizes across the country are increasingly embracing technologies like cloud computing and AI to help them accelerate innovation, increase productivity, and compete on the global stage." We are pleased to declare that, over the next five years, we intend to invest ￡8 billion in digital and AI infrastructure to assist in transforming the UK's digital economy and meeting the expanding needs of our partners and customers.
The wage increase of 9.8% or higher will benefit tens of thousands of frontline operations employees across the UK.
Helping the UK take full advantage of the growing benefits of cloud computing and artificial intelligence
According to an independent analysis by Telecom Advisory Services, the UK's total economic benefit from cloud computing was estimated to be over ￡42 billion in 2023. That is greater than the UK's automobile manufacturing industry, or 1.6% of GDP.
AWS hired independent consultancy Public First to conduct fresh quantitative research on the ways in which UK businesses are utilizing and intend to utilize cloud computing in order to gain a deeper understanding of the present and future implications of AI and cloud computing in the country. Public First conducted a survey of more than 2,000 senior business decision-makers as a portion of this. developed new economic modeling on the relationships between productivity in business and digital technology.
Cloud computing is an important enabling technology for UK growth
Thanks to cloud computing, startups, small businesses, and public sector organizations can now access the same technologies as the largest enterprises. This helps them to compete globally, drive innovation more quickly, and cut costs.
84% of respondents who use AWS believe that their company has saved money by investing in cloud infrastructure, with an average cost savings of 28% when compared to using on-premises infrastructure, according to a poll conducted by Public First.
The average response from respondents was that deploying new software takes less than 25% of the time when using AWS. Furthermore, 82% of AWS users believe that cloud computing has enabled them to expand their business internationally, and 85% concur that using cloud computing has made it simpler to compete with bigger businesses.
In addition to lowering costs and fostering innovation, cloud computing has also helped the public and private sectors become more sustainable and energy-efficient. According to the survey, a majority of AWS users—more than three quarters, or 78%—state that using the cloud has improved their sustainability and decreased their energy consumption.
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How technology can bring more value to the UK economy
Each responding company received a digital intensity score from Public First as part of the research, which was determined by how much the company used and benefited from cloud computing and other digital technologies. The overall digital intensity of businesses and their average revenue growth from the previous year showed a strong correlation. Businesses in the top 20% of digital intensity, known as "Digital Leaders," had a four-fold higher likelihood of experiencing robust revenue growth above 5% in the previous year.
More businesses will need to in order to assist the UK in fully utilizing the expanding economic advantages of technologies like cloud computing and artificial intelligence adopt these tools , not just the few that are currently Digital Leaders, and which tend to be larger businesses.
Over the next five years, the UK economy could add an estimated ￡38 billion in value if it can assist just half of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that are not already Digital Leaders in implementing technologies like cloud computing and artificial intelligence. All of the UK's nations and regions would reap these benefits, which over the course of the next five years would generate an additional ￡2.5 billion in economic value in the West Midlands and ￡3.9 billion in the North West, respectively.
To create more Digital Leaders, we will need more workers with digital skills
Investing in digital expertise and support will be necessary to fully capitalize on the digital opportunity and assist businesses in implementing new technologies and reaping the benefits in terms of productivity and the economy.
Only 11% of UK workers have advanced digital skills, despite 72% of businesses surveyed by Gallup for AWS reporting that they have openings for employees with those skills.
In order to meet the increasing demand for talent with digital skills and help equip the UK workforce for the future, AWS pledged in December 2020 to invest hundreds of millions of pounds to offer 29 million people free cloud computing skills training by the end of 2025. By July 2024, more than a year ahead of schedule, AWS had assisted over 31 million students with varying degrees of technical proficiency in 200 countries, including the UK, surpassing this challenging target.
AWS has introduced several educational and skill-building initiatives, such as AWS Educate, AWS Academy, and AWS re/Start. Additionally, AWS has introduced free trainings through AWS Skill Builder, a digital learning platform that makes over 600 free on-demand courses available in 14 different languages to anyone with an internet connection and a desire to learn.
In order to help realize AI's full potential, AWS has also promised to make AI education accessible to anybody who has the desire to learn by offering two million people of all ages free AI skills training by 2025. AWS expanded its free AI training programs and started new initiatives for adults and youth learners in order to meet this goal and make these vital skills more widely available.
Amazon’s continued commitment to UK
In total, between 2010 and 2022, Amazon invested over ￡56 billion directly in the UK. This covers both operating and capital expenses (like the jobs we create in the UK) as well as infrastructure (like the fulfillment centers, corporate offices, and data centers) that we build. Over 75 thousand people work for Amazon in the United Kingdom, including in various corporate and research and development roles in Amazon and AWS, as well as operations teams in data centers, fulfillment centers, sort centers, and delivery stations. The company has over 100 sites, including over 25 UK fulfillment centers and corporate offices spread across six cities.
We will keep pushing the limits of what technology—digital infrastructure and services—can do to support our partners' and customers' innovation, scalability, and increased growth and productivity throughout the United Kingdom.
For more read. click here. https://awsuk.publicfirst.co.uk/