Shashank Kansal

The case for GB Cloud The AI revolution will need massive computing capacity to enable it. In this paper Demos ‘ Elizabeth Seger with UKDayOne calls for the next government to invest in sovereign compute - GB Cloud - to develop cost effect and resilient compute. GB Cloud should be a public interest company offering discounted access to the NHS, public services and researchers and start-ups and could have parliamentary oversight and public consultation to ensure it is a trusted resource for the nation. The next will have to pick some targets to stimulate growth. This is a good bet. https://lnkd.in/eg28dipv

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Thank you to everyone who joined us for an insightful roundtable discussion yesterday in partnership with the UK Space Agency 🌟 🛰 We had an inspiring conversation on the unique challenges and opportunities faced by UK space SMEs as they move from early-stage growth to commercialisation. Together, we delved into the critical gap in support that emerging space companies experience as they transition beyond early-stage funding, and discussed the actionable ways to bridge it. Key themes included: 👉 The barriers to scaling for space SMEs and how the support landscape evolves as the industry matures 👉 Current UK financial support mechanisms that foster growth and attract investment, as well as potential new tools to further strengthen the ecosystem 👉 Opportunities for collaboration between UKSA, the investment community, and SMEs to ensure sustained support through Series A+ funding and beyond Thank you again to all our participants for their contributions to this important dialogue 🚀 Lydia Green – Lead Unlocking Space, UK Space Agency Sofia Chaves – Senior Project Officer Unlocking Space for Investment, UK Space Agency Lucas Bishop – Associate, Seraphim Space Sanjeev Gordhan – General Partner, Type One Ventures Shruti Iyengar – Investment Manager, Future Planet Capital Anatolii Papulov – CEO and Founder, NewOrbit Space Martin Philip – Director, Open Cosmos Patrick Zaitouni – Chief Strategy Officer, HawkEye 360 Steve Young – President of Satellite Missions, ICEYE David Ford – Partner, Silverpeak Julian Tsio – Director, Lazard Edmund Phillips – Senior Investment Partner, NSSIF Nigel Fox FCA – Chief Finance Officer, ALL.SPACE

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The article outlines five critical priorities for the UK government to support SMEs better: improving access to finance, enhancing digital infrastructure, reducing regulatory burdens, fostering innovation, and expanding international trade opportunities. These actions are essential in empowering SMEs, the backbone of the economy, to thrive in a competitive and rapidly evolving market. The government can help SMEs overcome challenges, drive economic growth, and create more resilient and sustainable businesses by addressing these key areas.

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Scotland's ecosystem for nurturing tech start-ups continues to transform into a powerful support network, greater than the sum of its parts. The latest example is the new partnership between Scottish EDGE and TechScaler. By combining two of our most effective assets within Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, we significantly increase the value that they bring to our start-ups. Alumni start-ups from Scottish EDGE can now access an ongoing development path within Techscaler, while Techscaler’s network of startup founding teams is strengthened further by dynamic businesses curated by EDGE.  https://lnkd.in/eZcM9RYR

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Anyone interested in the future of public services and by obvious link the UK's economic performance should read this article by Theo Blackwell MBE and Andrew Greenway. What this and The Radical How - https://lnkd.in/euvx-vf4 by Public Digital are starting to move us towards is something I've been pondering on for a while. Despite being someone who makes a living from doing tech and data work, often in government, I don't think anything very fundamental can change further until the underpinning people/HR model of our public services change. In this sense it is about the people not the technology. Our model for people and talent that work in public services is unchanged now for the entirety of my career and I'm quite old. Whilst the world - finances, expectations and UK positioning - has fundamentally transformed. There is no incentive for bold, there are few punishments for mediocre, leadership cadres come from similar non diverse backgrounds (that's not just diversity in the usual sense of it), policy skills dominate, ministers build up little functional knowledge, required new types of talent can't work in the recruitment and HR model, most public servants stay in the sector for their entire career - I could go on. How can there be fundamental change when the people that have to deliver much of it work within such an anachronistic model. Cut taxes? Spend more money? Use AI? - fiddling whilst Whitehall has 20 person meetings for 4 hours.

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Battery and energy storage innovation is key to reaching climate and sustainability goals 👏 so with that in mind - looking forward to supporting the Faraday Battery Challenge and the 18 founders participating on everything #fundraising and #investor related.

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Thanks to the ScaleUp Institute for hosting such a super event at the Tate Modern this week. Innovation, internationalisation and business opportunities for UK scaleups were all key topics.   It was great to see so many familiar faces and hear from so many good speakers and panellists, including a video speech from the Chancellor, Rt Hon Rachel Reeves.   The ScaleUp Institute’s CEO, Irene Graham OBE, shared their new Annual State of the Decade report, which identifies key barriers facing startups – many of which were raised by the Private Business Commission which I chaired earlier this year. The key barriers are as follows:   Talent and Skills Gap: It is challenging to find employees with the necessary skills, particularly advanced technical and broad operational business skill sets. Access to Markets: Scaleups face difficulties in accessing both domestic and international markets, with complex procurement processes and the time taken to win contracts being major barriers. Finance and Growth Capital: Access to the right combinations of finance is a top priority, with many scaleups feeling they lack sufficient capital to meet their growth ambitions. There is a need for more domestic capital to support scaling businesses. Leadership Development: Building leadership capacity is crucial, with scaleups needing to develop the skills of their senior and middle management teams to support ongoing growth.   The UK is home to great talent. If we can get measures in place to help address these and other challenges, and if the government is able to get its industrial strategy in good shape, then I am optimistic about what the UK can achieve.

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Very exciting to join fellow leaders on techUK’s new Growth Council. Together we will work with the wider tech sector to support the Government’s Growth Mission. As the International Investment Summit showed - the opportunities are massive! Three examples of recommendations set out in techUK’s Growth Plan launched today: 👷🏼‍♀️Reform the planning system to enable billions of pounds of new investments in digital infrastructure, including for artificial intelligence, across all regions of the UK. 📈 Provide a boost of up to £232 billion to the UK economy by encouraging digital and AI adoption across the UK’s SMEs. Do this by setting out a comprehensive digital adoption strategy and identifying a Minister responsible for increasing digital adoption by 2030. 💻 Deliver a new AI Strategy, sitting alongside the UK Industrial Strategy, to unlock the full benefits of AI technologies, potentially raising UK GDP by 10.3%.

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Now we know the date - six weeks today - and we can be fairly sure about the near term impact on the UK tech market too, particularly in the public sector with delays to any major decisions that might be reversed under a new government set to cause a hiatus in spending... #GeneralElection2024 #GeneralElection #techtrends #UKtech

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As the budget unfolds I'm particularly interested in how much of the promises made are reminiscent of the promises in the Spring Budget - where £3.4bn was proposed to be spent on tech over 3 years - as capital allocation, and largely focused on capital purchases such as MRI scanners with revolutionary AI. So today the pre-budget news has dropped that we get an additional £1.5bn in capital funding next year to spend on new surgical hubs and scanners, and emphasis on investment == productivity mandate. Familiar? Yes, this reads a bit like the priorities of the Spring Budget. Good news it's higher in NHS 2025/26 (which means it doesn't exist until 1st April 2025 at earliest). But the worrying news is that it smells like a short term 1 year commitment, that offers uncertainty in an NHS that is all too familiar with a 1 year bung and then a requirement to "work shit out the years after" (that's not actually a quote but it may as well be) when tech is rarely a one off cost. All too often we've seen a one year velvet allocation (such as the £30m Health Tech Adoption and Acceleration Fund) create little traction with commissioners and providers also hammered with X% annual savings targets coming from the clenched fist in the other hand. Lots more to unfold over the coming days but so far this stinks of i) emperors new clothes, ii) more sticking plasters etc.

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In the UK, the government supports businesses through a variety of schemes aimed at fostering growth and innovation. Key supports include: Grants and Funding: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can access government-backed grants, finance, and loans. These financial aids are designed to support start-ups, expansion, and innovation. Business Support Programs: Initiatives such as mentoring, consultancy services, and training programs help businesses enhance their operations and management skills. Tax Reliefs: Schemes like Research and Development (R&D) tax credits offer companies financial relief to encourage investment in innovation. Export Assistance: The government provides support for businesses looking to expand into international markets, including export advice and financial backing. Despite these supports, some governments struggle to prioritize small businesses due to multiple factors: Resource Allocation: Governments often focus on large industries that are seen as providing greater economic impact in the short term. Policy Focus: Attention may be diverted to more immediate political or economic issues, such as infrastructure or macroeconomic stability. Small businesses frequently feel overlooked as larger corporations benefit from stronger lobbying power and established networks, leaving smaller enterprises with less access to tailored support. Addressing this imbalance could ensure broader economic stability and local growth.

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techUK recently asked me to share views on #scaleup #investment challenges, which are condensed into a 3 minute blog post below. Hopefully an interesting read for UK tech entrepreneurs, VCs and policy makers... The opportunity to improve the landscape is clear. 🇬🇧

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❓Did you know that £1.4bn of venture capital has been deployed in the UK telecoms sector in the last four years? UKTIN's recently published Telecoms Investment Insights Report is packed with stats like the above, as well as trends and analysis that can help you navigate the sector. It is essential reading for investors with an interest in deep tech investment and start-ups with applications in this sector. Join me on 20 June (10:00 - 11:00), when, alongside a panel of experts and PitchBook, we'll take a detailed look at the report's findings and what they mean in practice. 👉 For investors: get the inside track on the investment opportunities in the telecoms sector - which, despite market fluctuation, has seen resilient deal flow. 👉 For start-up founders, see which technology areas are gaining the most traction and which investors are the most active in the sector. ⭐ You can download the report and register for the webinar here: https://lnkd.in/ebKuCSxn #telecoms #investment #deeptech

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This can't be overemphasized.

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Listen to the latest Silicon UK AI For Your Business Podcast: How AI is Transforming Business and Society https://lnkd.in/eK47iT8Z

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How do we bring about the best #innovation in the UK public sector market? A perennial question without an easy answer, and one which has never been more relevant given rapid advances in areas such as #GenAI and the government’s ambitions for the UK to lead the world in innovative tech. Thank you to the Form1 Partners team for bringing together such an insightful panel - Hetti Barkworth-Nanton CBE, Sean Williams, Pamela Cook, Georgina O'Toole, Nick Barras and Sally W.- and the audience for an engaging debate on the topic yesterday expertly moderated by James Kidner. With representatives from government, corporates & SMEs in the room, it was clear that whilst there have been improvements in the way government fosters innovation and procures – with the Procurement Act promising further change – there is still work to do. Many of the hurdles that frustrate the efforts of SMEs and others to sell innovative solutions into the public sector remain. I was particularly struck by the story of one innovative supplier that was told by a prospective government customer that they couldn’t do business with them ... because their solution was unique, so it was impossible to run a competitive bid. We need to keep working to break down barriers like this and change the mindset more generally around commercialising innovation – which, by definition, carries some risk - if the UK is to fulfil its potential as a leader in tech, turning our world-leading IP into world-leading businesses, and bringing about the best innovation within the public (& private) sector.

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It was a pleasure to join the business roundtable with Chancellor of the Exchequer the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt last week. Respectful, direct and candid conversations between government and entrepreneurs helps develop effective policy that harnesses the ambitions of entrepreneurs, supports growth, and increases the socio-economic contribution of SMEs across the breadth of the UK's regions. As we work through the unprecedented and long tails of a global financial crisis, Brexit, and global Covid pandemic, all three occurring within little more than a decade, the UK must encourage entrepreneurs to build and scale-up more productive, innovative, competitive, sustainable businesses. An effective industrial strategy that brings together key enablers can create favourable trading conditions for SMEs and the UK's economic growth. I propose that a strategy supporting SMEs and resilient economic growth needs to offer a blueprint for: # more effective and diverse channels for access to finance # ministerial support and oversight to ensure the effective implementation of the public sector Procurement Act 2023 # fairer tax incentives for entrepreneurs and the investment, risk taking, hard work, and sacrifices that they make over many years # right-sizing regulatory controls and burdens # incentivising effective skills and capability development and lifelong learning # adoption of digital technologies # increased investment in commercialising innovation (scale-up not just start-up) # growth through international trade and new markets Please, re-post this content and/or succinctly add any additional points or feedback if you'd like to constructively contribute to this conversation. Digital Leaders; Manchester Digital; techUK; ScaleUp Institute; 10 Downing Street; HM Treasury; Cabinet Office; Department for Business and Trade; Greater Manchester Trade Group; Greater Manchester Chamber, UK; Altrincham & Sale Chamber of Commerce; The Open University

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#GameChangerInHealth: An encouraging stride in AI's impact on health, as the ARTICULATE PRO goes live. Led by the University of Oxford in partnership with Paige, a vanguard in clinical AI applications for cancer diagnosis, three major UK hospitals embark on a live clinical trial harnessing artificial intelligence. The target? Early detection and grading of prostate cancer. The potential implications for this innovative AI technology are profound: 1. Enhanced accuracy: Assigning scores based purely on the hard data provides objectivity, lessening the chance of human error or bias. 2. Speedy detection: Minimising the time between detection and the start of treatment can have a game-changing impact on survival rates. 3. Increased efficiency: Automating more routine diagnosis leaves clinicians free to focus on more complex cases and patient interaction. I strongly believe in the power of this ambitious, cutting-edge endeavour, led by some of UK's top healthcare organizations collaborating with pioneering AI company Paige. This amalgamation of healthcare and artificial intelligence holds enormous potential for improving our capability to diagnose and treat prostate cancer patients. As shown in this clinical trial, more and more healthcare systems are threading the needle, cautiously embracing automation and AI. And prostate cancer is just the tip of the iceberg; AI has truly transformative potential across the entire spectrum of disease detection and treatment. Powerful, precise, and potentially life-saving - this is how AI can revolutionise the healthcare system. Looking forward, I believe that AI technology will be integral and a 'given' component to the world healthcare scenario. An absolutely exhilarating development! #AIinHealth #ARTICULATEPRO #OxfordUniversity #ProstateCancerTreatment #GameChanging+#Collaboration

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