With London Tech Week taking place in early June, it is no surprise that there have been some big tech new announcements recently. The yearly event generally sees corporate leaders, inspirational business influencers and even government bodies joining together to showcase new technology, discuss all things tech and even talk about what the future of technology might look like – and 2022 London Tech Week was no exception!
The Evolvement of Technology
There is no denying that technology plays a massive part in our everyday lives – we can tell Alexa to add items to our shopping list or turn off our lights when we’re not at home. However, it isn’t just gadgets and tricks that technology has helped with, there have been some massive life-changing technology discoveries over recent years.
Throughout the pandemic, we saw technology really come into its own. Businesses were forced to quickly change strategies and business models in order to keep up with changing customer demand, and without a doubt, technology helped to make this easier. Employees were forced to work from home & employers had to do what they could to support this – all thanks to technology such as Zoom.
Medical advancements, the opening of new tube lines throughout London and even supply chains for products have all been affected and improved by technology over recent years – no wonder the UK is leading the way when it comes to next-gen tech innovation.
London Tech Week 2022
The theme of London Tech Week was “Be Part of the Future”, with talks, conferences and seminars based around ‘amplifying the power, resilience and speed of innovation’. Various names from across several industries came together to discuss technology within their industry and their vision for the future.
Names that took part included:
· Hilary Clinton – Former US Secretary of State
· Rishi Sunak – Chancellor of the Exchequer
· Chris Philip – UK Government Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy
· Alex Mahon – Channel 4 CEO
· Taavet Hinriku – Co-Founder and Chairman of Wise
London Named as the World’s 2nd Biggest Tech Hub
As you can imagine with such industry leaders taking part in London Tech Week plenty has been discussed – including Chris Philip and his lengthy talk on London’s tech sector. He talked about the success of technology throughout London and that so far, the city has raised £12.4bn in 2022 – more than double of other cities such as Paris. Not only is London leading the way throughout Europe with technology, but figures put them in 2nd place behind the US – showing that the UK really are forward-thinking and innovative when it comes to embracing new technology.
London’s tech scene has been booming in recent years, with the list of new tech startups in the city almost as impressive as this list of Slingo sites. The online casino industry is definitely one that has benefited from technology over recent years; with game innovation and the introduction of things like apps to help gameplay be more accessible. Consumers look more towards online platforms for entertainment than ever and the casino and online gaming industry have certainly embraced this.
What Do the UK Have Planned?
A big part of Tech Week is various industry and government bodies announcing their plans for the future in terms of tech and innovation. The UK Government talked at large about the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and what their focuses for the future will be – including quantum computing sectors, semi-conductor technology and AI. These are areas where we’re already seeing investment and innovation; especially AI which is capturing the general publics’ attention too.
Another suggestion made by Chris Philip at London Tech Week was regarding the expansion of the Research and Development tax credit system, where he suggested that an announcement will be made regarding funding for this in the upcoming Autumn Budget. There was also talk of a pensions fund boost to help those that wish to invest in technology and innovation – “UK pension funds are missing out on a phenomenal opportunity,” Philp said, he added that by utilising investments from pension funds, the UK could “unleash a wave of innovation that will truly rival the west coast”.
The Future of Technology
Of course, at an event like London Tech Week, there is going to be talk of more than just technology in London. With various global governing bodies & industry leaders coming together there has been plenty of talk on the future of technology – with plenty of people talking about what they hope the future will look like. One of these was Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, who arrived at the event in a fully autonomous car. One big topic of conversation was the number of start-up businesses throughout the UK that are thriving and what their place will be in the future. The UK seem very keen to support brand new business and innovation and undoubtedly tech will play a huge part in this.
Mr Sunak said: ‘What really matters for economic success is innovation. ‘If we want our country to succeed we need to do what we’ve always done, and embrace new technologies and the people and culture that create them. No serious analysis of our prospects could conclude anything different.” He announced the launch of Future Compute Review, which will be led by AI expert Professor Zoubin Ghahramani and will look at how we need to ensure there are cost-effective solutions for research and industry development.
Although no one can say for sure what the future of technology will look like, one thing we can be sure of is that the UK are looking to back start-ups, innovation and industry development so that they can keep their place at the top of the chain when it comes to global technology hubs. Technology is forever changing across the globe and judging by the announcements made at London Tech Week, London and the UK are keen to ensure that they stay one step ahead of this and continue to be a country that is thriving.
