Jeremy Hunt spoke about Britain’s prospects of becoming the “world’s next Silicon Valley” at a summit with creative industry leaders.
The chancellor said the prime minister’s ambition for the UK to become a “science and technology superpower” was key to the country’s future.
Speaking at the Treasury Connect event at a series of government business conferences, Hunt told heads of the creative industry that “the UK’s biggest opportunity going forward is to be the world’s next Silicon Valley”.
“We have the ingredients to do something great,” he said.
“unique combination”
“Not only do we have the creativity, entrepreneurs, and amazing companies, but we have the second largest financial sector in the world to help those companies grow and we have one of the most respected higher education sectors in the world to provide the R&D heft to sit behind.”
“It’s a unique mix, it’s the mix that Silicon Valley itself had. But there aren’t many other places in the world that have that mix.”
Hunt highlighted the need for the creative industries to be at the forefront of technological development, saying: “Technology needs creativity and creativity needs technology.
“Technology has completely changed all of your businesses over the past decade, but in reality the tech industry needs creativity that is the starting point for all of your businesses.”
‘Not there yet’
However, he stressed that the UK is still far from achieving superpower status in the field of technology.
“We haven’t gotten there very far, but in the past 10 years we have become the largest technology hub in Europe, with the third largest sector in the world after the United States and China,” he said. “(We have become) the largest life sciences sector in Europe, the second largest renewable sector in Europe and the largest sector when it comes to offshore wind.
His comments come after Rishi Sunak and the Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology, Michelle Donnellan, unveiled the… Science and Technology Framework in March.
Ministers want to establish the UK as a tech superpower by 2030 and have pledged £370m to boost investment in innovation, bring global talent to the UK and fund cutting-edge AI research.