Tech Nation: UK tech for a changing world

Tech Nation, the UK growth platform for technology companies and leaders, has published its 2020 report entitled “UK Tech for a changing world”.

The report, published annually, offers a snapshot of the UK’s digital economy. It focuses on investment in technology companies, emerging technologies and the adoption of technology by consumers. Overall, it describes a strong and growing technology sector and ecosystem. We can only hope that remains the case when the next report is published in twelve months’ time, at which point much more will be known about the human, social and economic impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the UK and the rest of the world.

Investment

The UK technology sector continues to experience strong levels of growth. The UK has maintained its position as a leading FinTech nation, attracting significant overseas investment and more than other European countries. Highlights from 2019 include:

• Investment in UK tech companies increased by 44%, reaching £10.1bn
• UK cities continue to lead European-wide technology investment. In particular, London, Bristol and Cambridge punch well above their weight
• The UK continues to see growth in all tech investment stages and has seen a further eight companies attain unicorn status in 2019

Emerging technologies

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to dominate investment globally, with the US and China seeing the majority of this investment. The UK leads amongst the European nations, in third position in terms of overall global investment.

Elsewhere, blockchain, virtual reality and internet of things (IoT) technologies all saw substantial reductions in investment globally. By contrast, investment in cybersecurity and augmented reality technology experienced significant growth in 2019.

The diversification of AI and blockchain applications has seen the emergence of new technology sectors.

Consumer technology adoption

As the world becomes increasingly digitised as highlighted in our Big Data Race, it was unsurprising to see smartphone usage rise to 44% of the global population. With 5G adoption on the horizon, smartphone usage is only expected to increase as connectivity-enabled hardware becomes increasingly affordable.

The adoption of FinTech solutions by consumers remains highest in China, India and Russia. The UK commands a respectable 71% adoption rate, which is only expected to grow as initiatives such as Open Banking gain traction in the marketplace.