The UK's Digital Strategy

Today the Department for Culture, Media & Sport released the #UKDigitalStrategy policy plans - an integral strategy for the development of the digital economy in Britain. I took some time out today to take a look through and identify the key aspects of the report;

"Our digital strategy now develops this further, applying the principles outlined in the Industrial Strategy green paper to the digital economy. The UK has a proud history of digital innovation: from the earliest days of computing to the development of the World Wide Web, the UK has been a cradle for inventions which have changed the world. And from Ada Lovelace - widely recognised as the first computer programmer - to the pioneers of today’s revolution in artificial intelligence, the UK has always been at the forefront of invention. Today, this history translates into a world-leading digital economy. We have great strengths in FinTech - more people work in UK FinTech than in New York FinTech, or in the combined FinTech workforce of Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia - video games, EdTech and many other sectors. Our excellence in deep research and our creative thinking provides us with a crucial competitive advantage: we have three of the world’s top 10 universities, and 12 of the top 100. Of the G7 countries, the UK has the most productive science base and we rank first in many key global measures of research quality. In government, we have led the world in transforming our services and systems, using digital technology to make them easier, simpler and cheaper. Now, as we prepare to leave the European Union, our Strategy will create an economy which is resilient to change and fit for the future."

Building world-class digital infrastructure for the UK

"....we are ambitious for the opportunities afforded by the next stage of broadband and mobile rollout, so we will invest over ￡1 billion to accelerate the development and uptake of next generation digital infrastructure - including full fibre and 5G."

Giving everyone access to the digital skills they need

"...support everyone to develop the skills they need to participate in the digital economy and help all businesses harness the productivity benefits of digital innovation...we will ensure adults in England who lack core digital skills will not have to pay to access the basic digital skills training they need, mirroring the approach taken for adult literacy and numeracy training. And, as jobs and whole industries are disrupted by digital innovation, we need to make sure those affected have the support they need to adapt. ...a new Digital Skills Partnership, working together with partners who are passionate about making a difference and who share our ambitions to tackle the digital skills gap."

Making the UK the best place to start and grow a digital business

"The UK is already a world centre for finance, and home to a great deal of investment finance. Overall, investment in UK technology businesses is buoyant. A record ￡1.57 billion of equity finance was invested in the digital sectors in 2015, more than four times the level of investment in 2011. We want to see this continue, and we have announced a number of steps to help businesses to secure the finance they need to grow throughout their life. In addition to these actions, we will work to establish a network of UK Tech Hubs in five developing countries. Working alongside the existing hub in Israel, these hubs will boost our impact in emerging digital economies around the world."

Unlocking the power of data in the UK economy and improving public confidence in its use

"Data is a global commodity and we need to ensure that our businesses can continue to compete and communicate effectively around the world. To maintain our position at the forefront of the data revolution, we will implement the General Data Protection Regulation by May 2018. This will ensure a shared and higher standard of protection for consumers and their data."

A modern Industrial Strategy

1. Science, research and innovation, where we must become a more innovative economy, and do more to commercialise our world leading science base to deliver growth across the UK
2. Skills, where we must help people and businesses to thrive by ensuring everyone has the basic skills needed in a modern economy; by building a new system of Technical Education to benefit the half the population who do not go to university, boosting STEM skills and numeracy, and raising skill levels in lagging areas
3. Infrastructure, where we must upgrade our performance on digital, energy, and transport infrastructure, and must better align central government infrastructure investment with local growth priorities
4. Supporting businesses to start and grow, where we must ensure that businesses across the UK can access the finance and management skills they need to grow; and create the conditions to enable firms to invest for the long term
5. Procurement policy, where strategic government procurement can drive innovation and enable the development of UK supply chains
6. Trade and inward investment policy, where government policy can help boost productivity and growth across our economy including by increasing competition and helping to bring new ways of doing things to the UK
7. Affordable energy and clean growth, where we need to ensure that we both keep costs down for businesses, and secure the economic benefits of the transition to a low carbon economy
8. Sectoral policies, where we must both build on our areas of competitive advantage, and help new sectors to flourish, in many cases challenging existing institutions and incumbents
9. Spreading growth across the country, whether it is investing in key infrastructure projects to unlock growth, increasing skill levels, or backing local innovation strengths, the Industrial Strategy will create a framework to build on the particular strengths of different places and address factors that hold places back
10. Creating the right institutional framework, in some places and sectors there may be missing institutions which we could create, or existing ones we could strengthen: be they local educational institutions, trade associations or financial networks

Full report @ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-digital-strategy