Last year I interviewed the CEO of London and Partners, Gordon Innes, on how Britain’s capital is making a bid to become Europe’s Silicon Valley.
At the opening of CeBIT last night, UK Prime Minister David Cameron increased the country’s bid with a plan on building Britain’s capability in the digital industries.
Cameron portrayed the moves as being a partnership with Germany. This may be partly because he was being gracious towards his host and also because the Brits might not see Germany as being a competitor in these fields.
The fields that Cameron highlighted are deploying 5G networks, more efficient use of spectrum and increasing research into the Internet of Things.
A research boost is a notable as it may give the Brits a foothold in an area that’s evolving rapidly as the Internet of Things raises a whole range of security, privacy and governance issues.
While there’s still a sniff of Harold Wilson’s 1963 White Heat of Technology speech in the Cameron government’s policies, at least the British government is articulating policies for the 21st Century.
It may well be that Cameron’s digital revolution will be no more successful than Wilson’s technological revolution fifty years ago, but at least it will be a brave attempt.