UK technology entrepreneurs should be given tax breaks for volunteering to teach computer programming and the country should create a legal framework for the crypto currency bitcoin, according to a coalition of investors and entrepreneurs.
More than 150 high-profile technologists have signed a comprehensive, non-partisan technology manifesto urging 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.
It also urges allocating more resources to the Information Commissioners’ Office, which has struggled to keep up with regulatory challenges of consumer data protection in the internet era.
The 24-point 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 Commissioners’ Office, referring to its annual report published in July in which the commissioner, Christopher Graham, protested 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 policymakers, 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 for those who are negatively affected by innovation, for example people whose jobs are made redundant by automation including through opportunities for retraining and upskilling,” the manifesto says.
Shadow 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 start-ups as well as the need to foster digital skills.”
