March 6, 2017

The Culture Secretary has launched a Digital Strategy to “create a world-leading digital economy that works for everyone”.

More than four million free digital skills training opportunities will be created as part of the new Digital Strategy to “make Britain the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business”.

A “pioneering” new Digital Skills Partnership will see Government, business, charities and voluntary organisations coming together to make sure people have the right skills for the jobs in their area and are aware of all the digital training opportunities on offer.

The strategy includes new commitments, including a plan by Lloyds Banking Group to give face-to-face digital skills training to 2.5 million individuals, charities and small and medium businesses by 2020; plans by Barclays to teach basic coding to 45,000 more children and assist up to one million people with general digital skills and cyber awareness; and a pledge by Google, as part of their commitment of five hours of free digital skills for everyone, to help boost digital skills in seaside towns.

It is part of the Government’s ambitions to ensure everyone has the skills they need to flourish in a digitally driven economy.

The strategy follows the recent modern Industrial Strategy and will, the Government says, “help Britain to build on its strengths to secure a future as a competitive, global nation”.

Businesses have played an important role developing the strategy. The strategy sets out plans to “empower innovative businesses and deliver world-class connectivity”. This includes:

• the creation of five international tech hubs in emerging markets to create and develop partnerships between UK companies and local tech firms. These hubs will help provide British businesses with a global competitive edge and drive collaboration on skills, innovation, technology, and research and development. The hubs will be based upon the successful UK-Israel Tech Hub which to date has delivered more than 80 partnerships with a deal value of £62 million;
• a new competition to spark the development of new FinTech products that can support those who struggle to access financial services and provide consumers with the tools they need to manage their finances well. This will build on the UK’s existing lead in the FinTech sector, which was worth more than £6.6 billion in 2015, and will “make sure the digital economy works for all, not just the privileged few”;
• a commitment to create a Secretary of State-led forum for government and the tech community to work together to spark growth in the digital economy through innovation and the adoption of digital in the wider economy;
• a Business Connectivity Forum, to be chaired by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to bring together business organisations, local authorities and communications providers to help businesses access fast, affordable and reliable broadband; and
• confirmation of a £1 billion programme to keep Britain at the forefront of digital connectivity, as announced in the Autumn Statement. This funding will accelerate the development and uptake of next generation digital infrastructure, including full fibre broadband plans and 5G.

The strategy also contains new measures to support Britain’s world leading Artificial Intelligence sector:

• a major AI review led by Wendy Hall and Jérôme Pesenti to identify the critical elements for this technology to thrive and grow in the UK. It will consider how the Government and industry can work together to back this technology with the aim of establishing the potential for a possible sector deal. The UK is already a world-leader in the science underpinning this technology and the sector has the potential to grow further, from early research to commercialization; and
• a funding boost of £17.3 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to support the development of new robotics and AI technologies in universities across the UK.

The strategy also builds on the Government Transformation Strategy, launched earlier this month, which maps out how the Government will transform the relationship between the citizen and the state to improve public services. This has ambitions to make it as easy to renew your passport or report a crime as it is to buy a book online, and aims to sign up to 25 million people onto the Government identity service Verify by 2020. To read the DCMS press release in full, click here.