Four months in, it’s already clear that many of the decisions that will define 2024 will be made in the polling booth.
With our friends in India embarking on an electoral process due to last a full month, partisan lines are also being drawn closer to home as UK voters prepare to take to the polls once more.
While May’s mayoral and local elections don’t hold quite the same political significance as the general election expected later in 2024, they are the first opportunity for voters to connect with policymakers and start to influence the national agenda of the next half-decade.
Ahead of the election on 2 May – and in partnership with east London-based innovation hub Here East – I was delighted to present Tech London Advocates’ “New Tech Manifesto for London’’. The manifesto contains eight priorities for the next mayor of London to maintain our world-leading tech sector.
Education, education, education
If there has ever been a time for politicians to brush up on their ‘tech-pertise’, this is the year. Advances in the tech sector – even since the last UK election cycle – have been dramatic and far-reaching.
First – and most notably – AI and large language models are now dominating the public consciousness. Even as recently as 2019, the idea that these technologies would be at the forefront of party manifestos would have seemed like pie in the sky, even for the most ardent tech advocates. Today, it is fair to suggest that candidates not sufficiently plugged into these debates are missing a trick with would-be voters.
At the crux of this debate is digital literacy – a component that will likely determine the winners of the talent war set to define the next decade. I am proud to have long campaigned for more investment in this area, and it rightly takes its place at the heart of our manifesto.
While the UK hosts a proud tech tradition that has created many of the brightest minds in the global industry, it is no longer enough to rely on the brilliance of the few. Rather, success in the digital age will be determined by the proliferation of technological understanding throughout the workforce.
Be it through our world-leading universities or other new approaches, like upskilling programmes and bootcamps, the next band of leaders must put forward innovative solutions to closing the digital skills gap and equipping the UK workforce with the skills required to take advantage of the near-endless opportunities these technologies provide.
Make London the world’s capital city
London’s position on the geopolitical stage is one that rightly earns plaudits from all over the world.
The statistics are clear; in January, London & Partners’ report found VC investment in the UK capital’s tech startups was higher than any city outside of the US, and larger than the total combined investment in the next three largest European hubs (Paris, Stockholm and Berlin).
There is a restless vigour that makes this city unique; a desire to innovate and embrace opportunities that the future holds. At its heart, London’s real strength is its innate connection to the rest of the world, something that the winner of the upcoming mayoral election must strive to enhance.
London is a city that is driven by, and in turn drives, the world’s brightest and best to achieve the remarkable. The next London mayor must continue this tradition by facilitating engagement missions with the rest of the world and ensuring London’s best are spotlighted and celebrated at globally recognised events such as London Tech Week and London Data Week.
Benefits for London must benefit all
While our manifesto focuses on the London mayoral election, it is crucial that these benefits are felt in every neighbourhood across the city, and not confined to those in the Square Mile.
Many, if not all, previous industrial and technological revolutions have left behind trails of inequality. London has the opportunity to show the world that the digital revolution can buck this trend.
Our final manifesto request focuses on the development of ‘world-beating 5G’ across London. This ambition epitomises a modern, digitised London committed to supporting its citizens regardless of their postcode. With TfL rolling out 5G in the underground, broader access to high-speed networks is becoming more of a reality.
The same ambition must be extended to skills so that underrepresented groups aren’t hampered by the systemic inequalities which have historically limited so many.
Best of luck to all the candidates – I hope our manifesto will help to guide your tech ambitions…and to the winner, our Tech London Advocates community would be happy to meet with you to review all eight recommendations.
Russ Shaw CBE is the founder of Tech London Advocates & Global Tech Advocates, and a regular UKTN columnist.
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