As the London Mayoral Election looms ever closer, it was great to have been invited yesterday to #DebateTech, at Here East, organised by Tech London Advocates, Tech UK and Centre for London.
A fascinating, insightful debate between the 5 Mayoral Candidates, Sadiq Khan (Labour), Zac Goldsmith (Conservative), Sian Berry (Green), Caroline Pidgeon (Liberal) and Peter Whittle (UKIP) – with great facilitation by Oli Barrett & Michael Hayman – Tech’s own David Dimbleby and Andrew Marr.
This was a hustings to a full house of tech entrepreneurs, analysts, investors and the media, to better understand what each candidate would do to further improve the rapidly growing Tech opportunities in London’s Tech City and beyond.
Here are a handful of headlines, as I saw it……
- No candidate really illustrated that they understood the genuine size of the opportunity that Tech City brings, both to our economy and our place on the global stage. Better engagement with Technology leaders and influencers is clearly required, and quickly.
2. Zac Goldsmith just edged the debate overall, and was the most competent in linking the importance of Tech to other areas of policy, including transport, housing and immigration. Although a special mention must go to Sian Berry, who, having worked in a Tech Start-up, brought credibility and real life experience to the debate, that the others were unable to do.
3. Each candidate fully bought into the Manifesto presented by the event organisers, entitled “London’s Digital Future: The Mayoral Technology Manifesto”, a series of policy recommendations that show how City Hall can support Digital Growth and Innovation
4. Sadiq and Zac both committed to appointing a Chief Digital Officer to work alongside them at City Hall
5. Peter Whittle was all stats but little substance. The world of technology does not appear to fall in his comfort zone. However, he did admit to owning (and using) a mobile phone!
6. Sadiq Khan was quick to position himself as a Pro Business Mayor, in light of Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell. Sadiq laid out a tentative plan to make London No 1 for Digital, surpassing New York then Silicon Valley. A great aspiration, but we could have done with hearing more on the policies to get us there.
7. The topics that received most air time were infrastructure (affordable office space, faster, cheaper broadband), skills shortage, digital apprenticeships, digital inclusion, visa rules, finance for growth, women in tech and of course our role in Europe – this all culminated in all the candidate’s commitment to make it easier for Tech companies to do business.
8. There was a recognition from both Zac and Sian that data had a large part to play in decisions and policy moving forward, and this should be a key area of investment.
9. Caroline championed women in Tech, and was keen to ensure a level playing field, for both sexes.
10. Finally, the media pundits felt that of all the candidates only Sadiq and Zac had the capabilities to develop the very senior relationships and generate the type of home and overseas investment required to take Tech City to the next level of growth.
It was a wonderfully organised debate, I’m very much looking forward to the next.
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