The UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO) has strengthened its long-standing relationship with Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) by enhancing its membership level from Technical to Strategic to provide greater leadership, boost innovation, and advance geospatial data for the marine industry.

The UKHO has long been a champion of open standards and innovation at OGC. As a Strategic Member, UKHO will augment its expertise and leadership offering to OGC, while providing greater access to and usage of its marine geospatial data.

In this new capacity, UKHO will support planning committees by providing leadership through the exploration of market and technology trends to ensure that OGC’s activities remain effective and agile in a changing technology environment. This includes participating in final approval decisions for all OGC standards and nominations to the Board of Directors.

By deepening their collaboration under this new strategic membership, the two organisations aim to drive real change in the marine and land geospatial domains.

Peter Sparkes, UKHO’s CEO, commented: “We’re pleased to enhance our close collaboration with OGC to strengthen our mission of meeting the evolving geospatial needs of mariners around the world, contributing fully to the development of international data standards for navigation, autonomous vessels and marine spatial data infrastructure. The pace of technological change in the maritime sector is accelerating. The geospatial industry needs to respond innovatively and proactively to the decarbonisation and digitalisation challenges our users face.

We will continue to work with the OGC to improve access to, and use of, marine spatial data in support of safe, secure and thriving oceans.”

Nadine Alameh, CEO of OGC, said: “We’re delighted to welcome UKHO as a strategic member of the OGC at a time when the geospatial community is mobilising its expertise to make the world a safer and more sustainable place, across land, space, and water. It’s great to see UKHO’s commitment to being a global leader in our innovative, problem-solving community, and a firm believer in the power of partnerships and standards to address the changing needs of all those who depend on the marine environment.”

UKHO will work with other Strategic Members, who are also leaders in their fields of expertise, to shape the future of location-based standards and improve their utility for decision-makers across the globe.

Other members include the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the European Space Agency (ESA), the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the US Geological Survey (USGS), US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), Natural Resources Canada/GeoConnections (NRCan), and Ordnance Survey UK (OS).

As a first major event in the new association, UKHO is sponsoring the upcoming Federated MSDI Pilot to further the development of internationally recognised standards for opening out marine and hydrographic geospatial data.

The Government has updated plans to achieve Net Zero by 2050 with the UK setting the world’s most ambitious climate change target. In June 2021, the new target was published in law that would reduce emissions by 78 percent which means that the UK will be more than three quarters of the way to Net Zero by 2035.

Given 38 percent of all emissions originate from construction, a number of laws have been passed to help regulate the industry, for example Energy Performance Certificate targets which concern all owners or stakeholders of property – commercial or residential.

Steven Boyd, CEO of the GPA, said: “As the delivery body for the Government’s office portfolio, we have a crucial role to play in the Government’s Net Zero initiative. Our strategy is to partner with industry leading companies to support successful delivery and drive the best commercial deals in the market. Atkins is world-renowned for its sustainability track record and we are pleased to appoint them as our partner on this critical initiative.”

Atkins will provide technical and design support including due diligence, compliance and assurance, as well as cost management and annual planning cycles across the portfolio.

Richard Robinson, Engineering Design and Project Management (EDPM) CEO, UK & Europe at Atkins, said: “Net Zero will only be achieved through public and private sector collaboration, as we step up together to tackle climate change and deliver a greener future. As such, we look forward to working alongside the GPA, recognising the impact we can make as we help shape the Government’s wider Net Zero agenda.”

The GPA is an executive agency of the Cabinet Office formed in 2018. It is responsible for delivering the Government’s property agenda across its office and warehouse portfolios, and currently manages 9m sq ft of the Government’s property. It also provides guidance on workplace services including design, technology, sustainability, and the customer experience.

The GPA has a crucial role in the Government’s Hubs programme as part of its Levelling Up agenda, as well as the Civil Service’s Workplace Transformation programme and the Net Zero initiative. The GPA is pioneering best practice as it offers guidance and leads by example in retrofitting and installing sustainability aspects to the Government’s general purpose portfolio.

Atkins is a world-leading design, engineering and project management consultancy that specialises in sustainability. It bases its sustainability strategy around the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals on climate change, amongst others, and is a member of the UN Global Compact.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will today welcome heads of the G7 authorities and guests to its London headquarters for the agenda-setting event. The G7 Digital Competition Enforcers Summit will strengthen relationships between international competition authorities and look to increase collaboration on issues related to competition in digital markets.

The Summit offers a unique opportunity for international agencies to discuss various questions, including on emerging issues such as in relation to large digital platforms, app stores, online marketplaces, digital advertising, mobile ecosystems, cloud computing and algorithms. It also provides an opportunity for attendees to consider areas for potential collaboration and reflect on how best to use their skills, knowledge, and resources to deal with challenges in digital markets.

These discussions come at a seminal point, with the need to address the challenges of digital markets and big tech one of the most important issues facing governments and competition authorities around the world.

The Summit and related work have come out of the UK’s G7 Presidency, with the CMA tasked with using its status as a leading competition authority to convene international partners. The aim is to find coherent and complementary ways to encourage competition and support innovation. It builds on previous collaboration between the CMA and its international counterparts.

This will be the first time that the G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, USA, with the EU) competition heads have specifically come together to discuss these issues with the heads of competition authorities from the G7 guest countries (Australia, India, South Africa, South Korea).

In order to capture some of the work that the G7 competition authorities are doing, they will today jointly publish a compendium. The document outlines each authority’s work in addressing competition issues in digital markets and highlights shared approaches and tactics.

These include:

• opening investigations and studies, or bringing enforcement actions;
• developing specialist teams staffed with technical experts;
• considering or introducing legislative reforms to bolster enforcement tools or introducing new regulatory regimes;
• and ensuring regulatory cooperation domestically and internationally.

The compendium will inform future cooperation and coordination including through existing competition international forums, as well as provide a resource for governments and other policymakers.

Andrea Coscelli, Chief Executive of the CMA, said:

Tech businesses are at the heart of many all-important services for consumers and businesses, so it is crucial that they can continue to thrive. Yet currently too much market power is concentrated in the hands of too few firms. Whether in online shopping, web searches or social media, companies like Apple, Google, Amazon and Facebook exert an unprecedented level of influence over our lives.

These global challenges require a coordinated global response, which is why this Summit is so vital.

As the leaders of G7 competition authorities, we recognise that joint action across international jurisdictions is needed to ensure big tech’s dominance is not harmful to people and businesses, wherever they may call home.

Today is an important step towards the increased collaboration that will enable lasting positive change in digital markets around the world.

The CMA is one of the leading global authorities taking steps to address competition concerns in digital markets. It has established the Digital Markets Unit (DMU) to give consumers more choice and control over their data as well as promote online competition and crack down on unfair practices. The DMU launched in shadow form in April and the government has recently consulted on introducing legislation which will give it the powers it needs to oversee a new regulatory regime for the most powerful digital firms, promoting greater competition and innovation.

The CMA is also part of the Digital Regulation Co-operation Forum (DRCF), alongside the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office, Ofcom and the Financial Conduct Authority. The DRCF was formed in July 2020, building on the strong working relationships between these organisations, to ensure a greater level of cooperation and tackle the unique challenges posed by regulation of online platforms.

The DRCF is now launching a new programme of work to uncover digital regulation issues. Separately from the Summit, DRCF members are today taking part in a panel discussion hosted by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) at the Future Tech Forum, to discuss this programme. As part of the programme of work going forward, stakeholders in the digital sector are encouraged to get in touch about any concerns.

The CMA has a number of ongoing investigations into issues in digital markets. These include investigating Google’s ‘privacy sandbox’, Facebook’s use of ad data, Apple’s AppStore, as well as a market study into mobile ecosystems. Through its powers to investigate mergers, it is also investigating the acquisition of Giphy by Facebook (now Meta Platforms), after provisionally finding that this deal raised competition concerns.

Notes to editors

1. In April 2021, the G7 Digital Enforcers Summit was announced in the G7 Digital and Technology Track Ministerial Declaration.
2. The G7 and guests will publish a Compendium of approaches to improving competition in digital markets on Monday 29 November 2021.
3. Stakeholders on the digital sector who wish to get in touch about the DRCF’s programme of work can do so via JoiningUpOnFutureTech@ofcom.org.uk

• UK tech is helping to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems from climate change, health and food insecurity
• Impact startups in the UK have raised £2 billion in investment in 2021, up from £1.7 billion last year
• Impact investment is up 127% in the UK since 2018
• Together these companies are worth £50 billion and employ over 35,000 people

UK impact tech startups – companies founded to build solutions to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals – have raised £2 billion in investment this year as technology becomes increasingly important in tackling global problems.

New analysis published today by Dealroom for the UK’s Digital Economy Council has shown that impact investment in the UK has increased by 127% since 2018.

This comes as Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries hosts the Future Tech Forum taking place this week in London, marking the end of the UK’s Presidency of the G7. The two-day event will be attended by ministers from governments across the world. They will come together with world-leading experts from industry, civil society and academia to discuss future public policy issues relating to the development and use of digital technologies. In particular, they will discuss how technology can deliver positive global change and deliver some of the ambitious targets agreed by nations at COP26.

12 impact unicorns and counting

The UK is now home to 12 impact unicorns – companies worth over $1 billion or more in value.

The unicorns are:

• Arrival (London)
• Octopus Energy (London)
• Babylon (London)
• ITM Power (Sheffield)
• Ceres Power Holdings (Horsham)
• Vertical Aerospace (Bristol)
• Compass Pathways (London)
• Depop (London)
• Ovo Energy (Bristol)
• Britishvolt (Blyth)
• Tractable (London)
• BenevolentAI (Cambridge)

Of these 12 companies, six of them are based outside of London, demonstrating the wide-reaching nature of the companies working in this space. These include Vertical Aerospace which is based in Bristol and is building zero-carbon, commercial flying taxis; ITM Power in Sheffield which designs and manufactures hydrogen energy systems; and Ceres Power Holdings in Horsham which is creating low-cost next-generation fuel cell technology to enable companies to deliver clean energy at scale.

In addition, there are now 22 impact futurecorns, the high-growth scale-ups which are on track to reach unicorn valuation in the next few years. These include the alternative protein startup AgriProtein, fusion power research energy company Tokamak Energy and the leading mobile-delivered health and insurance provider Bima, with 25 million active users across Asia and Africa. As these companies grow and scale they are predicted to become future leaders and take their technologies global.

Technology tackling global solutions

Impact investing has grown across the globe with investors keen to back companies that will generate positive social and environmental impacts alongside financial returns. In the UK, there are now nearly 900 impact startups and scale-ups using technologies such as artificial intelligence, deep tech, big data, and blockchain to develop next-generation solutions to take on global problems such as climate change, health and food insecurity. From Dundee to Dorset, these companies have a combined worth of £50 billion and have created over 35,000 jobs.

Most of the capital from impact funds is going to companies creating affordable and clean energy and tackling the climate crisis, something investors across the globe are paying closer attention to given the threat caused by global warming. Collectively, climate tech companies make up 65% of the deals in the impact space. This is being driven by companies such as the green energy provider Octopus Energy, which raised the biggest impact round this year of £438 million, the electric car subscription platform ONTO which raised £130 million in a Series B round, and future energy company Newcleo, which launched earlier this year to disrupt the nuclear energy industry.

It’s not just energy companies that are leading the green revolution – Plastic Energy, based in London with industrial plants across Spain, raised £123m this year to transform plastic waste that would otherwise be destined for landfill into recycled oils that can be used to create clean, recycled plastic. Last year, UK climate tech investments made up more than a quarter (28.6%) of all climate tech deals in Europe and are expected to continue increasing in value this year.

As well as climate tech, the UK’s impact startups are focused on solving global health problems. For instance, Benevolent AI is the UK’s leading health impact company and uses big data and deep learning to discover more effective medicines and recently discovered a treatment for Covid-19 which has been approved by the US healthcare regulator. Other health tech companies using big data include Huma, which enables remote patient monitoring to reduce hospital readmission rates in countries including the UK and Germany, and Cera, an app which helps families to provide the right care for their loved ones.

Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries said:

From world-class AI discovering new treatments for Covid-19 to green energy solutions paving the way to a net-zero future, UK tech is transforming the world for the better.

Our ‘impact’ startups are raising investment with nearly £2 billion in funding this year to help fight some of the most pressing problems we face as a planet.

We want to harness the power of technology to make greener, healthier and safer choices and today I’m hosting the first Future Tech Forum in London to discuss how we can make that happen through future governance, policy and cooperation.

Luisa Alemany, associate professor of management practice in strategy and entrepreneurship at London Business School’s Institute of Entrepreneurship and Private Capital, said:

Impact investing has come a long way since its start in the late 90s when it was considered more of a philanthropic endeavour until investors realised these investments could deliver not only a social benefit but also a financial return. At the heart of this is technology, as the way to scale social impact is by applying science and technology. From biotech to nanotech, cleantech, computer science and medicine, technology is not only improving our lives but finding solutions to these pressing problems that only entrepreneurs, with the right source of financing, can dare to solve.

Eric Archambeau, partner and co-founder at Astanor Ventures, said:

There are some brilliant, impact-driven UK entrepreneurs who are developing innovative technologies to put nature back into the heart of the economy. It’s solutions like these that will transform the economy from a system of extraction to one of regeneration, and entrepreneurs are the key drivers of this transition.

Remus Brett, general partner at LocalGlobe and Latitude, said:

COP26 and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic have shone a light on the need for bold solutions to tackle these enduring challenges. Companies realise that they need to make significant changes and startups like Supercritical can help them to make real change, not just greenwashing.

Rana Yared, general partner at Balderton Capital, said:

With more money than ever being invested in UK tech companies, it’s critically important to see that an increasing amount is being dedicated to supporting this new generation of impact companies. These companies have dual missions to have a positive effect on the world, while being self-sustaining businesses. As these companies grow and scale, it’s important they have the right conditions to thrive and become global leaders.

Gerard Grech, Founding CEO of Tech Nation, said:

The UK tech ecosystem is constantly innovating to solve societal, economic and environmental challenges – on a national and global scale. The contributions of these inspiring impact tech scaleups has never been more vital – as is made evident by the increase in impact tech investment that we have seen this year. The value of UK Net Zero tech companies alone has nearly doubled over the last year (skyrocketing from $24.4bn to $47.6bn). However, with 40% of the technologies needed to reach net zero not yet at mass market scale, there is huge potential still to be realised. The UK tech ecosystem must do all we can to support and scale the UK’s impact tech scaleups who are shaping our society, economy and future.

ENDS

Notes to editors:

The UK’s 12 impact unicorns are:

• Arrival (London)
• Octopus Energy (London)
• Babylon (London)
• ITM Power (Sheffield)
• Ceres Power Holdings (Horsham)
• Vertical Aerospace (Bristol)
• Compass Pathways (London)
• Depop (London)
• Ovo Energy (Bristol)
• Britishvolt (Northumberland)
• Tractable (London)
• BenevolentAI (Cambridge)

Contact: aimee@burlington.cc

About DEC

The Digital Economy Council is a non-statutory advisory committee of independent members set up to provide advice to the government. Its purpose is to harness the expertise of industry and the wider tech community to develop a world-leading digital economy that works for everyone.

About Dealroom:

Dealroom.co is the foremost data provider on startups, growth companies and tech ecosystems in Europe and around the globe. Founded in Amsterdam in 2013, Dealroom.co now works with many of the world’s most prominent investors, entrepreneurs and government organizations to provide transparency, analysis and insights on startups and venture capital activity.