The new “strategic state” and the technological revolution: the reforms proposed by Tony Blair and William Hague

One of the greatest events in human history began in the UK: the Industrial Revolution. But the UK is lagging behind, at least according to two of the country’s most illustrious politicians, Tony Blair there William The Haguewho put aside their political differences and came together to produce a report that argues that the UK has fallen behind in the digital revolutionand that you have to perform a series of structural reforms secure its future as a state.

“We both believe the challenge is so urgent, the danger of being left behind so great and the opportunities so exciting that lines are needed for a new sense of national purpose that transcends political divides (…) a fundamental overhaul of the state. around technology. These are not traditional left-right debates. should lead to a more strategic state with a whole new operating model“, we read in the report.

The UK is starting out with real strengths in many areas of emerging technology. However, the authors warn that without radical change, it risks falling behind and falling behind the United States and China, which are investing heavily in its future.

To do this, they propose a fundamental overhaul of the state, from the functioning of the government itself to the delivery of public services. This new “strategic state” it must embrace the technological revolution, argue Blair and Hague, in the same way the private sector is already doing.

First, they say, one must ask how the benefits of this revolution can be harnessed for Britain and use data and technology to reduce the cost of public services and improve results. An example of how the public and private sectors can work together effectively and successfully is the speed of the response to covid, including the development and deployment of new vaccines.

The reforms proposed by the policies are:

-A reorganization of the center of government to promote this scientific and technological agenda across government and public services, with the full weight of the Prime Minister’s authority behind him and, essentially, the skill set necessary to ensure its effective implementation.

-Build the critical infrastructure of the age of AI. This includes, among other things, a digital identification secure and privacy-preserving citizens, allowing them to interact quickly with government services, while giving the state the ability to better target assistance.

-Create an advanced sourcing agency (APA) with a specialized mandate to find innovation opportunities in the public sector, acquire promising solutions and manage their implementation and testing.

-Encourage the consolidation of pensions and encourage growth equity by ensuring that the pension capital gains tax exemption only applies to funds over £20bn under management that allocate a minimum percentage of their funds with UK assets; and combine the UK’s Pension Protection Fund (PPF) and the National Employment Savings Trust (NEST) to create a unique investment vehicle that supports market consolidation.

-Reform technology transfer offices (TTO) to further encourage spin out Students.

-Increase public investment in research and development (R&D) to make the UK a leader among peer nations within five years, as well as reforms to the way our science, research and innovation institutions are funded and regulated to provide more freedom and better incentives.

-Investing in new models for organizing research in science and technologyincluding the vast expansion of the Agency for Advanced Research and Invention (ARIA) and the creation of innovative laboratories that are spawning new industries by working at the intersection of science and advanced engineering.

– Pursue broader planning reforms ensure infrastructure projects critical to the UK’s economic transformation can win approval in six months or less, while creating waivers and expedited processes for R&D infrastructure planning.

-Integrating new technologies into education develop the skills of tomorrow and train a workforce capable of implementing technological advances. This should include a new education technology training fund to improve teacher confidence and incentives to embrace innovation as part of learning.

-Build stronger global partnerships to avoid being trapped behind the technological superpowers of the United States and China.

“With science and technology as a new national goal, we can innovate instead of stagnating in the face of increasing technological change. This goal is to overcome political differences in order to achieve a new cross-party consensus that will survive any change of government,” the report read.

However, there is one recommendation in the report that raised concerns. It is “digital identification for all citizens”. He envisions a digital ID that everyone should have on their smartphone. This would include passports, driver’s licenses, tax records, qualifications, right to work and other documents.

“We have the opportunity to shape a radically different future for Britain,” they conclude in their report. “A company that embraces technology to restore our natural environment, helps people live longer, healthier lives, and creates internationally competitive, well-paying jobs in our country’s four nations.” Achieving this will require a unique shift in our operating model and an economy-wide transformation in the way we work and innovate.

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