Business News Round Up (25/02/2021)
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Britain must harness the online innovation of Covid crisis and embrace a digital world
The UK has a defining opportunity to create the blueprint for future success and position itself at the forefront of innovation and economic growth. Over the last 12 months, people across the UK have turned to digital to keep connected with loved ones and hundreds of thousands of businesses have experimented for the first time with remote working, online sales, and cloud computing. It’s estimated that in 2020, the use of technology leapt forward five years in as little as five months. There was a 60% increase in internet usage, whilst searches of online shopping grew by 200%. As the UK government prepares its course for the biggest recovery challenge in recent history, it needs to build on its strong ambition to support digital skills and online innovation, powering a digitally-led recovery that creates opportunity across the UK.
Scotland gets cyber resilience framework
The Scottish Government has published a strategic framework for cyber resilience that includes a ‘secure by design’ approach and a strong role for domestic companies in protecting the public sector. It comes with the setting up of the new CyberScotland Partnership to provide more clarity on best practice in cyber security. The Cyber Resilient Scotland framework is built on the country’s first strategy and focuses on four outcomes: that people recognise and are well prepared for cyber risks; that businesses and organisations are also well prepared; that digital public services are secure and cyber resilient; and that national cyber incident response arrangements are effective. For public services it emphasises the need to ensure that a secure by design approach is adopted across the supply chain, aligned with the UK government’s proposal for regulating the cyber security of smart products. This is accompanied by encouraging Scottish cyber security companies to provide products and services for the public sector, improving the security capabilities of digital services and protecting the systems that support the country’s infrastructure and services.
https://www.ukauthority.com/articles/scotland-gets-cyber-resilience-framework/
PE & VC to support UK’s economic recovery, says new report
Private equity and venture capital investment will play a crucial role in supporting the UK economy as we begin the recovery from the pandemic, according to a new report. The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s (BVCA) ‘New Horizons’ report highlights more than 30 examples of private equity and venture capital investments in companies which are supporting the economic recovery post-COVID, providing opportunities across the UK’s regions, driving UK global competitiveness, and working towards Net Zero. Each story illustrates how private equity or venture capital support and expertise has enabled the company to navigate the pandemic successfully, scale up to meet the demands of their customers and continually contribute to the UK economy through job creation, increased productivity, innovative new products and ideas or international exports.
£30m partnership to make Liverpool the UK’s ‘most digitally connected area’
A £30m partnership has been launched that it’s hoped will help make the Liverpool City Region “the most digitally connected area in the UK”. Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram today announced the new LCR Digital Infrastructure Project, which he hopes will lead to a £1bn boost for the local economy. Work has already begun on a 212km full fibre, gigabit-capable network infrastructure that will help position the region “at the head of the next digital revolution”. When complete, Mayor Rotheram said the move will put city region businesses in “prime position” to excel in a host of growing sectors, from health and life sciences to AI and advanced manufacturing. Half-owned between the city region’s combined authority and ITS Technology Group, the full fibre infrastructure will be capable of delivering speeds of 1,000mbps and beyond.
https://www.business-live.co.uk/technology/30m-partnership-make-liverpool-uks-19897181