• Skills, infrastructure and innovation at the heart of new strategy to support Britain’s world-leading digital economy

• Includes a new Digital Skills Partnership and bold new pledges for millions of free digital training opportunities

• Backs the UK digital sectors to invest for the long term and includes measures to help all businesses harness the productivity benefits of digital innovation

More than four million free digital skills training opportunities will be created as part of a Digital Strategy to make Britain the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business and ensure our digital economy works for everyone.

A pioneering new Digital Skills Partnership will see Government, business, charities and voluntary organisations coming together to make sure people have the right skills for the jobs in their area and are aware of all the digital training opportunities on offer. This Government-led initiative will help both businesses and individuals and make sure no one is left behind.

The strategy includes new commitments, including a plan by Lloyds Banking Group to give face-to-face digital skills training to 2.5 million individuals, charities and small and medium businesses by 2020; plans by Barclays to teach basic coding to 45,000 more children and assist up to one million people with general digital skills and cyber awareness; and a pledge by Google, as part of their commitment of five hours of free digital skills for everyone, to help boost digital skills in seaside towns.

It is part of the Government’s ambitions to ensure everyone has the skills they need to flourish in a digitally-driven economy.

The strategy follows the recent modern Industrial Strategy, and will help Britain to build on its strengths to secure a future as a competitive, global nation.

Businesses have played an important role developing the strategy. To capitalise on these new relationships and deliver a thriving, outward-looking digital economy, the strategy also sets out plans to empower innovative businesses and deliver world-class connectivity. This includes:

• The creation of five international tech hubs in emerging markets to create and develop partnerships between UK companies and local tech firms. These hubs will help provide British businesses with a global competitive edge and drive collaboration on skills, innovation, technology, and research and development. The hubs will be based upon the successful UK-Israel Tech Hub which to date has delivered more than 80 partnerships with a deal value of £62 million.

• A new competition to spark the development of new FinTech products that can support those who struggle to access financial services and provide consumers with the tools they need to manage their finances well. This will build on the UK’s existing lead in the FinTech sector, which was worth more than £6.6bn in 2015, and make sure the digital economy works for all, not just the privileged few.

• A commitment to create a Secretary of State-led forum for government and the tech community to work together to spark growth in the digital economy – through innovation and the adoption of digital in the wider economy.

• A Business Connectivity Forum, to be chaired by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, to bring together business organisations, local authorities and communications providers to help businesses access fast, affordable and reliable broadband.

• Confirmation of £1billion programme to keep Britain at the forefront of digital connectivity,announced at Autumn Statement. This funding will accelerate the development and uptake of next generation digital infrastructure – including full fibre broadband plans and 5G.

Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Karen Bradley said:

The UK’s world-leading digital sectors are a major driver of growth and productivity, and we are determined to protect and strengthen them.

This Digital Strategy sets a path to make Britain the best place to start and grow a digital business, trial a new technology, or undertake advanced research as part of the Government’s plan to build a modern, dynamic and global trading nation.

To do that, we will work closely with businesses and others to make sure the benefits and opportunities are spread across the country so nobody is left behind.

There should be no digital divide – every individual and every business should have the skills and confidence to make the most of digital technology and have easy access to high-quality internet wherever they live, work, travel or learn.

At the heart of the strategy are steps to ensure everyone can develop the skills they need to thrive in an increasingly digital world and measures to help businesses harness the benefits of innovation.

Government has taken the lead in this area and has committed to help adults who lack core digital skills to access training free of charge, similar to the approach taken for literacy and numeracy. The strategy builds on this by establishing a Digital Skills Partnership and, as part of the Digital Strategy, Government has secured the following new pledges from private sector organisations:

• Google will launch a Summer of Skills programme in coastal towns across the UK. It will develop bespoke digital skills training schemes to help boost tourism and growth in seaside towns.

• Lloyds Banking Group is to give face-to-face digital skills training to 2.5 million individuals, small and medium businesses and charities by 2020. The training, as part of its Helping Britain Prosper Plan, will include internet banking.

• Barclays will assist up to 1 million people with general digital skills and cyber awareness in 2017, grow its UK Eagle Lab network by up to 100 per cent, and teach basic coding to 45,000 children.

• BT will expand its Barefoot Computing Project to enable a further 500,000 children to develop early computational thinking skills by the end of the 2017/18 academic year. The scheme helps primary school teachers with no previous computer science background feel confident to teach the new computing science curriculum.

• The HP Foundation will bring a free online learning platform – HP LIFE – to the UK. This will improve business, IT and digital skills for disadvantaged groups in the UK and aims to reach 6,000 new UK users over the next five years.

• Accenture will partner with FutureLearn to develop a new national digital skills programme to boost learning through online collaboration. Through partners, the programme could reach as many as 100,000 people across the UK.

Josh Hardie, CBI Deputy Director-General, said:

UK companies are at the forefront of the digital revolution. The pledges announced by the Government underline businesses’ commitment to build the skills we need for a modern economy, as well as tackle barriers to technology adoption.

To uphold our position as a world-leading digital economy businesses, we and the Government need to work together – the strategy’s focus on skills, connectivity and innovation provide a useful framework for this.

Gerard Grech, chief executive, Tech City UK, said:

The UK’s tech sector is rapidly becoming a global force to reckon with, but we must ensure that we stay ahead by continuing to provide a supportive environment for British startups and digital companies to grow in, especially since other countries are trying to take advantage of our departure from the European Union. In the UK tech sector jobs are being created at twice the rate of the wider economy, and today’s Digital Strategy provides an ambitious road map for the industry to continue growing at this rate and building a new economy fit for the future.

Nick Williams, Managing Director, Consumer and Commercial Digital at Lloyds Banking Group, said:

I’m delighted that Lloyds Banking Group, as part of its new Helping Britain Prosper Plan, has made such a significant commitment to improve digital skills in the UK. By working with the Digital Skills Partnership, and our key partners such as Google and The Good Things Foundation, we can help to tackle some of the issues raised by the Government’s Digital Strategy. Our commitment to provide face-to-face support will make a huge difference to millions of individuals, small businesses and charities across the UK.

Ronan Harris, Google Managing Director UK & Ireland, said:

We believe that digital can have a transformative impact, no matter where you live and what your job is. Everyone deserves access to the tools and opportunities the web has to offer and that is why we welcome the Government’s timely Digital Strategy which ensures the benefits of the digital economy are spread across the country.

We are delighted to be part of the Digital Skills Partnership and will continue to invest in the free skills training offered through the Digital Garage, launch a new programme aiming to help seaside communities, and – as a global first – are launching engineering apprenticeships, giving young people without a degree the opportunity to join Google’s world class software teams.

The strategy also contains new measures to support Britain’s world leading AI sector which were announced earlier this week.

• A major AI review led by Wendy Hall and Jérôme Pesenti to identify the critical elements for this exciting technology to thrive and grow in the UK. It will consider how Government and industry could work together to back this technology, with the aim of establishing the potential for a possible sector deal. The UK is already a world-leader in the science underpinning this technology and the sector has the potential to grow further, from early research to commercialisation.

• A funding boost of £17.3 million from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) to support the development of new robotics and artificial intelligence technologies in universities across the UK.

The strategy also builds on the Government Transformation Strategy, launched earlier this month by Minister for the Cabinet Office Ben Gummer, which maps out how Government will transform the relationship between the citizen and the state to improve public services. This has ambitions to make it as easy to renew your passport or report a crime as it is to buy a book online, and aims to sign up to 25 million people onto the Government identity service Verify by 2020.

Media enquiries and interview requests – please contact the DCMS News and Communications team on 020 7211 2210.

Professor Dame Wendy Hall FRS FREng is Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton. Wendy is an entrepreneur, and one of the world’s leading computer scientists. She was a founding director of the Web Science Research Initiative, now the Web Science Trust, and is the Executive Director of the Web Science Institute at Southampton . She was president of the British Computer Society from 2003-04 and was the first person from outside North America to be elected President of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) from 2008-10. Since 2014, she has served as a commissioner for the Global Commission on Internet Governance and is a non-executive director of Dstl and the Digital Catapult.

Jérôme Pesenti is the CEO of BenevolentTech, the technology division of BenevolentAI, a British technology company using artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific discovery. He is a world-leading pioneer in the commercialisation of AI. He co-founded Vivisimo, a tech firm specialising in text mining and enterprise search engines, which was acquired by IBM. At IBM he became chief scientist of big data, and created and led the development of the Watson Platform – the first comprehensive cloud platform for artificial intelligence.

28 February 2017 – The United Nations human rights office today urged the Government of Thailand to criminalize enforced or voluntary disappearance and torture.

The announcement follows news last week that National Legislative Assembly – the military-appointed parliament – decided not to enact a bill that would have done just that.

“The Assembly’s decision to reject the bill is very concerning given the continued allegations of torture and disappearances in Thailand, and it is deeply worrying that such actions may now continue without any legal redress,” Ravina Shamdasani told journalists in Geneva.

Ms. Shamdasani, the spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), characterized the decision to not enact the bill as “a devastating blow” to the families of those who have disappeared.

Since 1980, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Voluntary Disappearances recorded 82 cases of enforced disappearances in the country.

Those include the disappearances of respected lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit in 2004 and Karen human rights activist Pholachi “Billy” Rakchongcharoen in 2014.

Speaking to the press, Ms. Shamdasani also raised concern about the increasing number of criminal cases brought against human rights defenders in Thailand for reporting allegations of torture and ill-treatment.

Thank you for inviting me to speak at the inaugural Belfast-London Network event, I am very grateful for the invitation.

Belfast Partners is an exciting initiative aiming to showcase all that Belfast has to offer across the globe.
And it makes sense for it to begin in London, reinforcing and strengthening already established links between these two great cities.

Belfast has a long and illustrious economic history, from the turn of the 19th Century, when it was the largest linen producing country in the world, or from when it housed the world’s largest shipyard.

And today Belfast has a significant role to play in growing the economy across Northern Ireland.

Of course there are already significant trades from the City that flow through Belfast.

In finance, Citi Bank, which established a Belfast presence in 2004 to support its London offices, now employs around 2000 people in a range of activities.

And last year, Tullett Prebon, one of the world’s leading interdealer brokers, announced plans to create 300 new Belfast-based IT jobs. In legal services, Allen & Overy, one of the world’s largest international law firms, has pledged to create over 48 jobs in Belfast by 2019, building on the success of the operation it has built there since 2011.

While Herbert Smith Freehills, one of the oldest and most established firms in the City of London, has over 200 staff in Belfast, including qualified lawyers and legal assistants.

I could go on.

It is clear Belfast is already providing important and valuable support to established London businesses.

And there is much too London can learn from Belfast, where the city is already a world leader in areas such as cyber security.

Belfast, and Northern Ireland more generally – ably led by its Universities – also has much to offer in the field of science, research and innovation, a key pillar of the Industrial Strategy.

And this has already been recognised by Government.

In a clear example of the potential this Government sees in Northern Ireland, Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, has embedded a business manager within Invest NI in Belfast, to help find and drive the scientific and technological innovations that will help to grow the NI, and UK, economy.

This Government is serious about developing the economy across the country.

We now have the highest number of people in employment on record and the UK’s economic deficit is down by almost two thirds.

In 2016, the UK economy grew faster than any other major advanced economy across the globe and the Bank of England has positively revised its economic projections for this year.

And this growth is reflected across the county.

In Northern Ireland, there are now almost 54,000 more people in work than in 2010 and the number of people in receipt of unemployment benefit is almost 50% lower than at its peak, and has now fallen for nine months in a row.

But this is not enough.

Much more remains to be done to realise the Prime Minister’s vision of an economy that works for everyone and not just a privileged elite.

For businesses, and I know many of you will have a vested interest here, the National Productivity Investment Fund will add £23 billion in high value investment, including bringing significant benefits to Northern Ireland.

And the modern Industrial Strategy, currently out to consultation, aims to build an economy that will grow from strength to strength, not just for years but for decades to come, increasing productivity and improving living standards across the country as a whole.

I am already engaging with my Business Advisory Group to ensure the interests of Northern Ireland are best represented, and I encourage everyone here to respond to the Green Paper to make your voice heard.

The Government also remains committed to the devolution of corporation tax to the Northern Ireland Executive.

The legislation is ready and waiting, on the statute books, but it can only be activated if there is a stable, functioning government that is demonstrating sustainable finances.

That is why making politics work in Northern Ireland so important.

Belfast City Council is the cornerstone sponsor of Belfast Partners, and I know the Council’s CEO Suzanne Wylie, who will be speaking shortly, has ambitious plans for the City.

I will let Suzanne say more, but the Council has a vision for growing Belfast economically and boosting the quality of its public services.

However, many of the levers for realising this vision sit with the devolved Executive.

That is why it is so important for political leaders to come together after the election this week and work for the good of everyone in Northern Ireland.

I remain in no doubt that Northern Ireland is best served by strong, accountable and effective devolved government.

This is a message that I hope can be echoed from here tonight.

On the topic of our withdrawal from the EU, I fully understand that businesses need certainty to prosper.

That is why we are moving as quickly as possible to trigger Article 50 no later than the end of March.

The Prime Minister recognises the impact uncertainty can have, and has moved to very clearly set out the UK’s key objectives for the upcoming negotiations:

To control our own laws and end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice;

To strengthen the precious Union between the four countries of our United Kingdom;

To maintain the Common Travel Area with Ireland;

To control immigration from Europe while continuing to attract the brightest and best to study and work here;

To guarantee rights for British nationals in the EU and EU nationals living here;

To protect workers’ rights;

To pursuing an ambitious free trade agreement with the EU, outside the single market but allowing for the freest possible trade in goods and services between Britain and EU member states;

To strike new trade agreements with other countries around the world;

To keep the UK as the best place for science and innovation;

To continue to co-operate in the fight against crime and terrorism;

And finally, to ensure a smooth, orderly Brexit with an agreement about our future partnership by the time the two year Article 50 process has concluded, followed by a phased process of implementation.

Leaving the EU now offers us an opportunity to forge a new role for ourselves in the world: to negotiate our own trade agreements and to be a positive and powerful force for free trade.

We will continue to promote the wonderful exports that Northern Ireland has to offer and highlight that Northern Ireland has great potential as a base for exports to the EU.

And, as we have made clear from the moment the people decided to leave the EU, we will be steadfast in our determination to recognise Northern Ireland’s unique economic, social and political context.  

One of the central tenets of the Government’s Industrial Strategy is driving growth and prosperity from London and the South-East out across the whole country.

I hope this event will spark the conversations and ideas that champion the benefits of Northern Ireland as a place to do business, enhancing partnerships wherever they already exist and igniting new relationships.

I understand that the London-Belfast partnership is just the beginning, and I look forward to partnerships growing between Belfast and other cities across the globe.

We must move to capitalise on the skills available in Northern Ireland, growing science and innovation, boosting further our tourist industry and encouraging the flourishing digital and creative industries.

We know through companies like First Derivatives, with headquarters in Newry and employing 1700 people worldwide, business can grow and prosper in Northern Ireland.

Hopefully you can make the connections here tonight, and at future events, to let others see what we see when we talk about the potential of Northern Ireland and the success story that Northern Ireland can continue to be

28 February 2017 – Delivering her first address as the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Amina Mohammed underlined that Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are essential for a safe and secure future that brings prosperity, opportunity and human rights for all.

“Around the world, success in achieving the SDGs will ease global anxieties, provide a better life for women and men and build a firm foundation for stability and peace in all societies, everywhere,” said Ms. Mohammed at the opening of the 2017 Economic and Social Council segment on Operational Activities for Development.

Ms. Mohammed, earlier today, was administered the oath of office by Secretary-General António Guterres at a ceremony at the UN Headquarters in New York.

“Success will require a bolder approach to financing and partnerships. Nothing will be achieved without engaging all actors,” she added, urging all countries to rethink systems, approaches, redefine traditional planning, delivery and monitoring.

She also said that the UN too needed to be “fit for purpose” to help its Member States implement 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

“We must innovate, and revamp our approach to partnership and financing, with a focus on the long haul. We must empower youth to participate in and shape the political and economic lives of their countries and communities; to be the agents of peace and development,” she noted.

Further in her remarks, the deputy UN chief also highlighted that despite much progress, Africa continued to remain vulnerable, and therefore needs to be a UN priority.

Opening of the 2017 Economic and Social Council segment on Operational Activities for Development. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Noting that efforts should be stepped to support the least developed, landlocked and small island developing states to reduce vulnerability and build resilience, she added that “It is critical that, across the world, we focus on those furthest behind first. Because in all regions, the rising tide of optimism and empowerment, has not yet reached everyone.”

She also underlined the need to address growing inequalities around the globe as well as combat gender discrimination which continues to limit the opportunities and potential of women and girls in all countries.

Looking ahead, Ms. Mohammed said that focus would be based on broadly three principles: strengthening impartial leadership of the UN development system for coherence and integration at all levels; addressing the trust deficit to entail accountability and transparency at all levels; and being responsive to national priorities.

“Solutions from the past will not, alone, meet the challenges of the future,” she underlined.

The UN Deputy Secretary-General also spoke of the Quadrennial Comprehensive Policy Review (QCPR) process that established a sequenced approach to the review of the UN development system as well as on the empowerment of Resident Coordinators and implementation of standard operating procedures for UN Country Teams.

Noting that the world has a unique, once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver a better future for all humanity, she stressed: “The task ahead is challenging, but nothing is impossible when we work together.”

Opening the segment, ECOSOC Vice-President Cristián Barros said the Council would contribute to the implementation of the QCPR in three ways: by laying the foundation for its work after the receipt of comprehensive proposals requested from the Secretary-General in the QCPR; by discussing concrete steps that the UN development system can initiate immediately to enhance system-wide coherence and efficiency; by reflecting on adjustments needed to improve impact of support provided to different groups of countries to deliver on the 2030 Agenda.

As a result of the deliberations in the general Assembly on the QCPR, Mr. Barros said there is now growing recognition among Member States that the UN development system is at a “critical juncture” where important decisions will need to be made for the Organization to effectively support delivery of the 2030 Agenda.

This is why the new QCPR resolution of the General Assembly requested the Secretary-General to prepare proposals for their consideration in the course of this year on the system’s functions and capacities.

“These options will enable Member States to make decisions on the changes required at different levels for the kind of transformation we need to bring the UN development system up to speed with the level of ambition of the 2030 Agenda,” he said.

28 February 2017 – With ‘no’ votes from permanent members Russia and China, the United Nations Security Council today failed to adopt a resolution that would, according to press reports, have imposed sanctions against parties using chemical weapons in war-torn Syria.

While nine of the Council’s members voting in favour, Bolivia joined Russia and China in rejecting the text, as Egypt, Ethiopia and Kazakhstan abstained. A negative vote – or veto – from one of the Council’s five permanent members means a resolution cannot be adopted.

Media reports suggest that the draft resolution would have established a sanctions regime, a committee and an expert panel to hold accountable those using and producing chemical weapons in Syria. The text would also have imposed sanctions on a number of individuals and entities linked to the use of chemical weapons in cases where responsibility was established by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM).

The Council came together on 19 December to unanimously adopt a resolution demanding that all parties to the Syrian conflict ensure immediate and unhindered access for the monitoring of evacuations from eastern Aleppo.

But today’s decision comes after the Council’s two most recent failed attempts to take action on Syria: on 8 October, Russia vetoed a resolution that would have called for an end to military flights over Aleppo; and on 5 December, a measure calling for a seven-day ceasefire in the beleaguered city failed to pass after negative votes by both China and Russia. In the past five years, Russia has vetoed seven Council texts on the Syrian conflict, while China has vetoed six of those seven.