The return of British technology to Lisbon – O Jornal Económico
Web Summit celebrated its return to Lisbon in early November. It involved more than 43,000 participants (more than 50% women) from 128 countries, approximately 700 speakers, 1500 beginners and about 2000 journalists. The Web Summit remains one of the world’s greatest technological assets and the UK, with its vibrant and innovative technology sector, was once again at the summit’s epicenter.
For the past 400 years, the UK has been at the forefront of global technological innovation and our scientists and entrepreneurs continue to hold us in that position to this day. We were ranked fourth on the Global Innovation Index (2020) and collected the second highest number of Nobel Prize laureates (99). Charles Babbage and Alan Turing pioneered modern theory and Tim Berners-Lee invented the world Wide Web. Like our universities and beginners Technologies are at the forefront of the race to develop a viable quantum industry, and the UK is Europe’s most mature market for Artificial Intelligence, home to half of the world’s fintech European unicorns.
The UK was also an important pioneer in the life sciences. Frederick Sanger was the first to sequence the DNA and the Wellcome Trust was instrumental in decoding the human genome. A collaboration between Oxford University and AstraZeneca has produced a Covid-19 vaccine that has already saved lives, and many of the drugs and treatments that are contributing to the fight against the pandemic around the world have been developed in our universities and institutions. scientific .
For these reasons, it’s not surprising that the UK has had a strong presence at this year’s Web Summit. Again, the British were the largest foreign contingent, with one in ten visitors and one in five speakers. At the UK booth, the largest ever on the Web Summit, we broadcast by Live broadcast conversations about commerce, entrepreneurship, technology and sustainability. We launched a competition on Artificial Intelligence as part of our “Global Entrepeneurs Program”. The Lisbon band The Peakles entertained us with a live performance of British rock classics. British companies and other associations partner up with a number of partners and investors from around the world. And we received many entrepreneurs, from Portugal and beyond, who were looking to learn more about opportunities to invest in British land.
The UK has a mature consumer market with high purchasing power, benefits from an open and liberal economy, internationally renowned talent and one of the most business-friendly regulatory environments in the world. This makes it one of the markets where it’s easiest to create, scale and grow a business.
Investors have access to a range of growth support programs for businesses of all sizes and shapes, including in the industries of the future that will support sustainable economic growth and recovery, such as green growth and renewable energy, the sciences for life or advanced manufacturing processes. And with the recent release of Investment Atlas – a new online platform to identify strategic investment opportunities – this is in the shadow of a doubt the best time for investors to turn their attention to the UK.