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Tony Blair and William Hague are both in their 60s. Perhaps not the first people you’d expect to be calling for the UK to get with the times and “discover its place in this new world”.
Their report – which calls for the government to roll out a “digital ID” for everyone in the country – isn’t the first to highlight the opportunities the UK could enjoy as a global leader in research and development which is already home to some of the world’s best universities and high-tech companies.
What’s significant about their call for action, is that it comes from two former political foes. They warn their successors in government and opposition that unless they unite with a shared drive to embrace science and technology, they risk being stuck in the past.
“We are in danger of conducting a 20th-century fight at the margins of tax and spending policy when the issue is how we harness this new revolution to reimagine the state of public services.”
Their report highlights the opportunities to be gained from re-organising government to drive science and technology throughout political and public life: Bringing AI technology into public services from digital IDs to recognising NHS data as a “competitive asset”; overhaul planning to prioritise growth in the research and development sector; and fast tracking the latest technology into the education system.
Much of the substance of the report, from planning reform to embracing AI, could have been lifted straight out of the current chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s “plan for growth” outlined in a speech in January.
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In fact, the importance of the high tech, low carbon economy has been central to pretty much every chancellor and…
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