Member Article

techUK welcomes new Government as being ‘incredibly tech positive’

The Director of Policy at techUK, Vinous Ali has welcomed the approach of the new UK Government as being ‘incredibly tech positive’ and backing up words with actions. The comments came at an event held yesterday, Tuesday 10th March, at techUK, the membership organisation representing the tech industry, hosted by Leyton UK.

Speaking at the event titled ‘Fast Track Your Innovation Journey’ Ali praised the new Government’s ‘energy and enthusiasm’ and action in ‘broadening out the definition of R&D’. She said this was a great example of a positive policy move sending out the right signals post-Brexit.

Ali said: “The Government doesn’t see technology as sitting somewhere else. As we leave the EU they see it as core to what Britain can offer the world.” She said techUK wanted to ‘sit at the heart’ of this approach. Its mission was ‘to help the Government ensure it has the right regulatory framework’. She said: “Britain needs to be better at using tech and robotics.” She concluded by saying it was critical innovation was good for both the economy and planet. She called for the right incentives needed to ensure greentech and clean growth were top of the agenda.

Greentech was the theme of a presentation by Caroline Villecroze, Chief Marketing Officer for Leyton Group. Caroline announced the launch of Leyton’s Sustainable Startup challenge for 2021. The follow up to the successful launch last year will see startups competing worldwide to win the chance to exhibit in Eureka Park at world-leading consumer technology conference, CES 2020 in Las Vegas. The contest is aimed at businesses in an early stage of production whose product provides a positive impact on sustainability be it environmental or social. Two finalists will be selected from the UK.

The event also heard from two Leyton consultants Callum Hillman and Iliass Ikhanjal. They discussed the range of what could be claimed for R&D funding in digital technology as well as looking ahead at future trends. The three big areas for future innovation would be focused on the Internet Of Things, Machine Learning and Robotics. Meanwhile, William Garvey, MD of Leyton UK said reducing tax and increasing rewards for R&D would ‘stimulate growth and drive the knowledge economy.’

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Leyton UK .