Chair of the Ubiquitech Group Dr. Ruth Wandhöfer has released a report offering practical recommendations for bolstering a digital economy that builds trust, provides access to sustainable infrastructure and secure data highways, and accelerates digital inclusion and education.
The report, 'From Fintech to Ubiquitech: Accelerating the wider UK Digital Economy', calls for cross industry collaboration to meet the needs of the UK's next generation with ubiquitous technology, or Ubiquitech.
While progress has been made in 2021 across open banking following the Kalifa Review, Dr. Wandhöfer posits that the sector is currently at the cusp of Smart Data improving innovation across healthcare, agriculture or other industries.
As emerging technologies become universal, Dr. Wandhöfer's working group recommends prioritising the digital economy to ensure the UK keeps pace with other nations with mature digital agendas or risk impacting the quality of life for UK citizens.
The report highlights that: "Key drivers for the paradigm shift are outlined, including the shift towards digital human interaction, the challenge to competitiveness posed by potential complacency and the essentiality of sustainability.
"We believe the Ubiquitech Report underscores the urgency for recent and forthcoming enabling legislation to leverage the digital future and the imperative need for enhanced security measures in the face of escalating fraud and cybercrime. The arrival of Web3 and decentralisation furthermore necessitates a complete overhaul of existing digital operating models.
"This Report stresses the inadequacy of current systems and processes rooted in a paper-based past, calling for a radical shift towards real-time identity verification and authentication in the digital age."
A new paradigm in data management and usage is necessary, and the report puts forward five key pillars to achieve this:
- Cyber Security and Fraud Controls: Consumer and organisational trust in the digital environment is of paramount importance and must be the Government’s core concern.
- Network, Systems and Processes: It is axiomatic to note that for Ubiquitech technologies to thrive there is an underlying requirement that ubiquitous network coverage and connectivity is achieved.
- Verification and Authentication of Users, Entities and Assets: A crucial component of any trust framework is the confidence in identifying the relevant parties and the confidence in a liability framework when errors occur.
- Digital Skills Education and Inclusion: For the Digital Economy to be successful and comprehensive all areas of society should be comfortable in their understanding and abilities to exploit the benefits on offer.
- Digitising International Trade Systems: Moving beyond the purely Digital Economy, reforms to digitise and optimise the movement of physical goods are also necessary to streamline both financial systems and supply chains.
Lord Mayor of London Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli says that: "If flows of data are the lifeblood of our economy, standards are its beating heart." He continues: “From Fintech to Ubiquitech is a timely and welcome intervention outlining the steps we need to take to harness the full potential of digital innovations across all sectors, […] which could benefit businesses and consumers up to £4.8 billion by 2030.”
Dr. Wandhöfer adds: "Ubiquitech brings truly a Carpe Diem moment for the UK as a Global Trust Hub and Centre of Excellence in Innovation across the board. We need to urgently seize this moment."