Responsible Business Intelligence – Growing the UK Economy by ￡250bn through Tech Innovation

In February 2023, Sir Keir Starmer , now Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was quoted in the Financial Times saying "By the end of Labour’s first government we will deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7”. Now 11 days into leading the new government, and potentially 1,800 days to go, the UK has a mountain to climb to achieve this. According to 普华永道 's Framework for Growth published this month "Compared to other G7 economies, growth has broadly flatlined since the pandemic and is struggling to return to its historical trend. Half way through 2024, this has left UK GDP nearly ￡100bn behind the 2009-2019 GDP growth trend.

Irrespective of where the UK ranks in the G7 for growth over the next 5 years, the challenges are clear for all economies:

• How can governments develop industrial policies that help establish a new model of inclusive growth?
• How can governments measure success by how well growth is shared across all its regions and all its people - that balances productivity, the environment, and community outcomes - rather than simply by rate of growth?

PwC's Framework for Growth

To answer the first question, PwC has defined a clear, common sense framework of 10 components that could influence UK growth and productivity. PwC calculates the potential combined growth in GDP from these components could be nearly ￡1tn by 2035:

1. Skills, education and talent. Developing the skills and knowledge of the UK’s population: formal education, vocational training, apprenticeships and lifelong learning. [￡230bn GDP uplift potential]
2. Innovation ecosystem. Fostering and supporting the development of new ideas, technologies and processes: research, entrepreneurship, collaboration and funding. [￡85bn GDP uplift potential]
3. Sustainability and environmental considerations. Minimising environmental impact and addressing climate change: carbon emissions, energy conservation, renewable energy sources, protecting ecosystems. [￡6bn GDP uplift potential]
4. Regional development and social inclusivity. Promoting balanced growth and equal opportunities across regions and communities and ensuring evenly distributed access to resources and opportunities.
5. Infrastructure and planning. Developing and managing physical structures, services and systems to support the needs of businesses and communities: transport networks, utilities, buildings and public spaces. [￡354bn GDP uplift potential]
6. Trade policy and promotion. Supporting international trade and growth: formulating policies and agreements to drive exports, attract investment and enhance market access. [￡184bn GDP uplift potential]
7. Cyber security and resilience. Protecting against and responding to cyber threats and ensuring the continuity of digital systems: safeguarding information, networks and infrastructure from unauthorised access, data breaches and disruptions.
8. Digital transformation. Adopting and integrating digital technologies and strategies to enhance business operations, improve efficiency and deliver better services. [￡65bn GDP uplift potential]
9. Private sector investment. Investing in startups, established businesses and infrastructure in order to generate financial returns, stimulate growth, improve productivity, and create employment opportunities.
10. Tax and regulation competitiveness. Implementing government policies and measures that create favourable conditions for attracting private sector investment and encouraging economic growth.

Growing the UK Economy by ￡250bn through Tech Innovation

In his recent book, "Growth: A Reckoning", Daniel Susskind describes a society that must not only find a path back to global growth - through the responsible businesses and governments we chose to trust - but also a society that must find a new path to growth that is far more aligned to resolving environmental decline, economic inequality, social inequality, health inequality, and local community decline - for current generations and all future generations that follow. We want to be a society that holds businesses and governments to task on responsible growth through profit, employment and GDP, and also a society that demands that all of society is served equitably by these businesses and governments.

As Daniel discusses in his book, a key driver of sustainable growth is tech innovation - achieving more, achieving better, and with less - where this innovation is driven through the continual development of new ideas. A key example of sustainable growth is the global impact of innovation and investment in clean technologies that now means the cost of reaching net zero in the UK is less than 1% of GDP per year , before benefits are counted. This compared to the 2% estimated by Stern back in 2008. As PwC highlight - the potential benefit to GDP from advancing sustainability and environmental considerations is ￡6bn by 2035.

Responsible Business Intelligence

So how can governments and society measure success by how well growth is shared across all its regions and all its people - balancing productivity, environmental, and community outcomes - rather than simply by rate of growth?

Responsible Business Intelligence (RBI) helps answer this question. RBI stems from the three concepts of:

• The responsible use of Business Intelligence (BI)
• The responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• The application of BI and AI by Responsible Businesses

At its core, RBI is about harnessing the power of data and AI to drive business and economic growth in support of equitable societal progress – now and in the future - all while adhering to the principles of responsible action and considering the impacts of those actions on all stakeholders.

The challenges to achieving responsible GDP growth are significant: skills shortages, aging population, regional disparities, AI advancement and regulation, inertia from mission critical legacy systems, cyber security and trust in government. But the alternatives to driving responsible GDP growth are worse: The World Bank forecasts that flat or declining GDP will continue to impact the worst off in society most; and the United Nations observes that historical GDP growth has served to increase the inequality divide.

Considering PwC's Framework for Growth, tech innovation is worth hundreds of billions in responsible GDP benefit to a country such as the UK. It presents significant opportunity for all elements of society to reskill and upskill to be the Human in the Loop with AI. With the right innovation ecosystem, and the promotion of responsible digital transformation, tech innovation allows diverse ideas to embed and responsible GDP growth to flourish.