Rishi Sunak, who used to be the UK’s finance minister and was known as “Dishy Rishy” for his cheap meal plan during the pandemic, is now UK Prime Minister, and the tech community is cautiously optimistic.
After Lizz Truss failed to take over from disgraced Boris Johnson after 44 days, candidates had until 2 p.m. on Monday to get the support of 100 conservatives and become the new UK Prime Minister position.
Johnson quit the race in a very public way on Sunday, leaving Sunak to run against Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt.
As of this morning, Rishi Sunak was the only one who had the 100 nominations needed to become the next leader of Britain.
How has Rishi Sunak’s work so far changed the tech industry in the UK?
Sunak used his time as chancellor of the Exchequer to push through some policies that affected the UK tech industry.
In June, Sunak talked about the new digital strategy for the UK. It was meant to create jobs and improve the country’s tech infrastructure and the skills of its people. Sunak said at the time that the new strategy will help it keep the tech industry “fit for the future.”
The former finance minister also said that there will be a review of the UK’s computer processing capabilities and a new group of experts to help with the country’s lack of digital skills.
He also talked about the Future of Compute Review, which looked at how to make AI, quantum computing, and the internet of things work better.
Tech experts remain mostly hopeful for the industry with Rishi Sunak in power
The tech community in the UK has been pretty hopeful since Sunak moved into No. 10. Some people have pointed out that the former finance minister promised to make the UK a world leader in technology and put innovation at the center of his government.
“[Sunak] is thought to be very tech-friendly. He has spoken out in favor of the tech industry and said that he wants to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a tech business, Josh Wood, founder, and CEO of the social events app Bloc tells Verdict.
Wood says that Sunak is going to put more money into research and development. This will make it easier for startups to get funding and will also make it easier to find good employees. He also wants to make it easier for people to use broadband and teach them better digital skills.
Some people think that the new PM’s experience and knowledge of financial markets will help the tech industry raise money. Some people say that getting rid of political instability will lead to more investments and technological advances.
“Sunak’s knowledge of financial markets and the economy should boost market confidence, which will be good for businesses in general,” says Amanda Brock, CEO of OpenUK, a non-profit group that promotes open technology.
Some experts think that Sunak will also help close the digital divide in the UK and improve the country’s standing in the global market.
Maria Lema, the co-founder of Weaver Labs, tells Verdict, “We expect the new PM and the chosen cabinet to continue to prioritize the actions needed to not only improve the UK’s position in the market but also make strides toward closing the digital divide through better policy.”
Lema also says, “Everyone in the tech industry wants stability, which we haven’t had in a long time.”
Even though experts are optimistic about the new future, some of them are still set on the changes they think the UK technology industry needs.
Alexa Greaves, CEO of IT support company AAG, told Verdict, “As a UK Tech leader, I hope to see more money and resources put toward new technologies in the sector.” The UK’s position as a world leader in tech would be strengthened by government-led projects and funding in areas like artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT).
Greaves also said that cybersecurity is still a “big deal” for both businesses and people.
Greaves said, “We risk falling behind other G7 nations if we don’t keep investing in and developing UK cyber talent.” The UK already has the worst cybercrime protection in the world, with the most victims per million internet users.
“Rishi Sunak is good for crypto”
Even people who know a lot about Bitcoin are hopeful about Sunak’s leadership. During Truss’s short time as PM, the cryptocurrency did well because the new government she helped form promised to take advantage of all opportunities in the field. Some experts think that Sunak, who has “always been on the side of innovation,” will keep this view.
Martin Hiesboeck, who is in charge of blockchain and crypto research at Uphold, tells Verdict that Rishi Sunak is good for crypto. “If he keeps leading as he has in the past, he has always been on the side of new ideas. One would think that with him in charge, the path to clear rules would be much shorter.”
