Matt Clifford’s long-awaited report finally landed this week. The AI Opportunities Action Plan packs a punch, delivering 50 recommendations to the Government.
For a deep dive, our Head of Science and Technology Anastasia Bektimirova offers a thorough analysis of the Plan on our Substack. As she said to Sifted (paywall): “The plan has a lot of very constructive recommendations... but this is something that was supposed to arrive much sooner, and at the moment it feels like we’re playing catch-up.”
The proof of any plan is in the execution. But as Anastasia said for another Sifted article (paywall): “It’s a very good sign that Matt Clifford will be overseeing the delivery of this plan.” It’s clear that the necessary infrastructure development, sustained funding commitments, talent attraction, and changes to procurement will all require tough political decisions to be made. As she writes in our Substack analysis, “the responsibility is also on the AI sector itself to demonstrate how it can deliver on the Government’s aims. The success of the Action Plan depends on sustained political support. Ministers want something to feel positive about and to champion, so articulating the opportunity is important – and this will be our task.”
As our Adviser Richard Mabey, founder of the AI-powered contract automation platform Juro, responds: “The key now is not the recommendations in the report, it’s in the delivery. To stand a chance of getting ahead, the Government must implement the recommendations at breakneck speed. Can Government move at the pace of AI? Let’s see.”
Janan Ganesh isn’t convinced we can. Ever the provocateur, he writes in the Financial Times (paywall) that Britain should stop pretending it wants more economic growth: “Tories want growth, but not if it means building things, aligning with Europe, or much exposure to China. Labour wants growth, but not if it incommodes the unions, or ‘leaves people behind’ or some such NGO press release inanity. What growth policy is left over, then?”
I’m more optimistic (and I suspect Ganesh might be too). Just this week, politicians across the political spectrum endorsed a National Priority Infrastructure Bill from the Looking For Growth group. These included Chris Curtis, co-chair of the Labour Growth Group, which has around 100 Labour MPs as members. Looking For Growth is run by friend of the Network Dr Lawrence Newport (and author of an essay for us on Inspiring Innovation) – it’s a social movement dedicated to making Britain grow. He is one of many people working on policy to increase the size and dynamism of our economy.
A decade ago, being unashamedly pro-growth and pro-progress could be a lonely place to be. This is no longer the case. Time to get involved.
Join us for an evening of networking with like-minded, pro-growth entrepreneurs in Soho this Wednesday. Spaces are limited, so sign up now.
On Your Mind
We want to hear from founders! What barriers are holding your startups back? Here’s a message from Eamonn Ives, our Research Director setting out what he’s looking for:
“At The Entrepreneurs Network, we’re here to solve problems. But in order to do that, we first need to know what those problems are. And there’s nobody better placed to tell us than the founders who have to deal with them each and every day. Our pipeline of research for the year ahead is taking shape but we’re still eager to know what issues you think we should be focusing on to ensure Britain’s startups have the best shot at success. Maybe it’s a regulation that stymies your sector, or something that cuts across the breadth of the economy – whatever it is, drop me an email and let’s chat further.”