Minister for tech and the digital economy, Paul Scully MP, opened day two of the Innovate Finance Summit 2023 with a keynote on the UK government’s ambition for digital identity.
Echoing the opening remarks of Andrew Griffith MP on day one of the conference, Scully started his speech on how committed the UK government is to bolstering the UK tech sector and stimulating growth for the economy.
He stressed the significance of supporting regulation and strengthening the rich investment landscape in the UK. He placed heavy emphasis on the tech sector’s contribution to the UK economy, stating that the sector attracted $12.5 billion in investments in 2022 and was the first in Europe to be valued at $1 trillion.
Scully announced the key part of his agenda was to enable the widespread use of trusted digital identity throughout the UK economy. The integration of digital identity services into the UK tech sector is essential to growth and the enablement of future initiatives such as open finance and CBDCs.
“We have already made fantastic progress in encouraging the adoption of digital identities by working closely with a large group of stakeholders, including many of you here today. Collaborative working allowed us to publish and test the UK digital identity and attributes trust framework, and establish a certification scheme for digital right to work, right to rent, and disclosure and barring service checks.”
Noting the current financial crisis and the tough economic conditions, Scully offered reassurance from the Government. On the Silicon Valley Bank collapse, Scully underlined the government's commitment to the customers of Silicon Valley Bank and called the tech sector “resilient”, expressing confidence in the industry’s ability to respond to challenges.
Scully highlighted the government’s priorities in its establishment of the Centre of Finance, Innovation, and Technology (CFIT) that is designed to tackle barriers to growth and creating the right conditions for fintechs to thrive in the UK.
He added: “The Prime Minister recently created a new department, the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, and it brings the policy teams together as they work towards key goals. There is real coherence and sharp focus around those high growth, vital sectors of science and technology with the key goal of making the UK science and technology superpower by 2030. I hope you will agree that it's a clear sign from the government that technology, and the continued resilience and success in the sector sits right at the heart of our agenda.”