INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Matt Hancock
Contributor
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Matt Hancock is the Secretary of State for
Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and a Member of Parliament for West Suffolk
The UK and the USA have always hadanenduring bond, with diplomatic, cultural and economic ties that have remained firm for
centuries.
We live in an era of profound change, and are living with technologies set to change things ever faster.If Britain and America
work together to develop these technologies for the good of mankind, in a way that is open and free, yet also safe and good for our
citizens, we can maintain the global lead our nations have enjoyed in the fields of innovation.
Over past months we have seen some very
significant strides forward in this business relationship
All of the biggest US companies have made decisions to invest in the UK
Apple is developing a new HQ in the iconic Battersea Power Station, close to the new US embassy, while Google is building a billion dollar
new HQ in the increasingly fashionable King Cross
Facebook, Amazon, IBM and Microsoft are all extending their operations, and a multitude of smaller US firms are basing their international
headquarters in London.
They are all coming here because as we prepare to leave the EU we are building a forward looking Britain that is
open to the wider world, and tech is at the heart of this.
Similarly, there have been major expansions or new investment from British firms
Jaguar Land Rover, the UK largest automotive manufacturer, supports more than 9,000 jobs in the USA and have recently opened their new
multimillion-dollar corporate North America HQ in New Jersey
iProov, a leading British provider of biometric facial verification technology, became the first international company to be awarded a
contract from the US Department of Homeland Security Science TechnologyDirectorate Silicon Valley Innovation Programlast month.
We want
to work with our global partners & to share expertise, and encourage investment & as we harness technology for the wider good
And that of course includes our old friend and closest ally, the USA.
We have a great deal to offer.
The UK was recently ranked the most AI
ready nation among all the OECD countries
In the past three years, new AI start-ups have been created in the UK on an almost weekly basis.
Recently, UK government and industry
together committed over $1 billion to support our AI sector, much of which will go towards entrepreneurs
Funding has been set aside to create a nationwide network of tech incubators, that we&re calling &Tech Nation&, which will support new AI
businesses as they get off the ground.
We are also excited by — and I am a firm advocate for — the development of blockchain and
The UK is leading the way in many areas where blockchain has the potential to be used, such as Fintech
There are now more people working in UK Fintech than in New York or in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia combined.
And we are eminent in
the development of immersive technologies, like Augmented and Virtual Reality, which look set to radically improve many areas of life in
coming years, with applications as varied as flight simulation and surgical training techniques.
There is so much to be gained from close
collaboration between our two countries on these new technologies and from sharing our expertise.
Together, we can reap the economic
benefits of stealing an early lead in their development
We estimate that AI, for example, if widely adopted, could add $33 billion to the UK economy
But, perhaps most importantly, we can also work together to build a strong regulatory and ethical frameworks for their wider application.
It
is the role of governments across the world, the UK and US included, to set frameworks for these decentralised, cross border systems so we
can manage their use in a safe and effective way.
Our aim should be to harness the power and capability of technology but always for the
benefit of, and in service to the populace.
We in the UK are avowedly pro-tech, always seeking to put its power in the hands of our
citizens.
We have all learned valuable lessons from the recent scandals regarding data use, most recently around Facebook use of data.
We
want to build a system that protects and cherishes the freedom of the Internet while protecting the rights of individuals, and their
property, including intellectual property.
We want to see freedom in a framework; where our tech entrepreneurs have the space to innovate,
knowing they do so with full public trust.Trust underpins a strong economy, and trust in data underpins a strong digital economy.
So in the
UK we are developing a Digital Charter, to agree norms and rules for the online world and put them into practice
Our starting point is that what is unacceptable offline should not be tolerated in the online world
That includes how tech companies treat private citizens and use their data, as well as how people treat each other online.
Important changes
like these cannot be agreed by one country alone
It is more important than ever that we work together and find common ground so we can make sure that tech continues to change the world for
Based on our mutual love of freedom and individual rights Britain and America have through history risen to challenges together
I firmly believe working together we can build that brighter future.
