UK tech entrepreneurs are calling for tax breaks in return for volunteering to teach code, along with creating a legal framework for bitcoin and more investment for teachers grappling with the new computing curriculum - all part of an ambitious tech manifesto launched on Wednesday.
More than 150 entrepreneurs and investors have signed up to the non-partisan 24-point Startup Manifesto, which was published by the Coadec coalition that is sponsored by Google, TechHub, iHorizon and Intuit, and urges policymakers to prioritise investment in superfast internet connectivity, and make it easier for entrepreneurs to hire international talent, including streamlining visas for entrepreneurs and graduates.
Written by Guy Levin, a former economic advisor to George Osborne, it also urges that laws and regulations need to be fit for purpose, including allocating more resources to the Information Commissioner’s Office which has struggled to keep up with regulatory challenges of consumer data protection in the internet era.
The manifesto also demands a commitment to keep the successful Government Digital Service, which has simplified and relaunched many online government services, and proposed more data sharing resources and standards for online identity.
GDS, along with coding in schools and open data, are good examples of important initiatives from both Labour and coalition governments, said investor Saul Klein of Index Ventures. “The potential of technology policy in Whitehall is exemplified by GDS, and that kind of open approach to technology can help the industry and the government address challenges through a transformative, open dialogue,” he said.
The manifesto calls for more resources to support the Information Commissioner’s Office, referring to its annual report published in July in which the commissioner Christopher Graham protests about budget cuts. “Our grant-in-aid from the Ministry of Justice, which has been cut in every year since I became Information Commissioner in 2009, is simply not adequate for us to do the work we could and should be doing to promote greater efficiency and accountability in the public service.”
“Neither government nor companies can be responsible for how information is managed. Citizens need to be able to make those decisions themselves, but the laws around data regulation have improved vastly even from five years ago,” said Klein. “Technology moves very quickly, and regulation necessarily moves slowly, and needs to so that it can be well thought out and long-lasting - that will be much better with high level engagement between policy makers, politicians and technologists.”
The next government should also do more to help retrain those made redundant by disruptive technology.
“The state is also rightly there to create an environment where people and businesses can adapt to change. This should include help those who are negatively affected by innovation, for example people whose jobs are made redundant by automation – including through opportunities for retraining and upskilling,” it states.
Labour’s business secretary, Chuka Umunna MP, welcomed the manifesto. “We want to see more people starting up, leading and working in business and the creation of high-skilled, better-paid jobs,” he said. “Britain’s burgeoning digital economy has a huge role to play in meeting both of these challenges, and that’s why Coadec’s manifesto is right to emphasise the importance of digital startups as well as the need to foster digital skills.”
Sarah Wood, COO of Unruly Media, said she was inspired to sign up because the manifesto is both wide-ranging but actionable and ambitious. “London has capital, creativity, technologists, talent, great education and government all in close proximity, and all willing to engage. But access to talent is the biggest issue for most technology startups, and holds back growth, not just because of the difficulties recruiting overseas talent but in using that expertise to train your own team,” she said.
“Government needs to be literate in technology so that they can effectively support the tech industry. The digital economy is the new economy, and the government itself needs to be skilled up so that the country can properly take advantage of all the opportunities.”
• We need long-sighted and informed politicians in the technology debate
