Things are moving rather quickly. In late January – as covered in my last blog – Britain’s Department For Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) announced that £12.9 million in government funding was going to Barclays Eagle Labs in a move intended to speed the growth of Britain’s technology startup and scaleup sector. That spelt the end of the road for Tech Nation, the publicly-funded body set up a decade ago to nurture the innovation economy.
Now – following a recalibration of government – a new ministry has been established. As the name suggests, the Science, Innovation and Technology Department will oversee the hoped-for emergence of the U.K.