The Technology Strategy Board – the UK’s innovation agency – has revealed its ‘Delivery Plan’ for 2014-15 which outlines £42m for digital technologies.
The plan outlines the Board’s priorities to ‘develop and nurture the very best of British entrepreneurial talent’.
The £42m is part of £400m in investments announced by the Board covering a range of industries including energy, healthcare, and transport.
Small businesses
The focus for the TSB, which reports to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, is to accelerate economic growth.
It plans to introduce a new UK-wide small and medium-sized business growth programme providing a package of skills, mentoring and coaching support to help businesses grow.
The Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board, Iain Gray, added:
The 2014-15 Delivery Plan raises the Technology Strategy Board’s ambitions to a higher level, enhancing support for UK companies through a range of targeted programmes, opening up lucrative pathways into Europe and expanding facilities and opportunities for businesses to collaborate and innovate still further.
Government investment in tech
The £42m investment is a an example of substantial Government investment in technology up and down the UK.
The Board itself has a budget of £400m which is similar to the capital budget of the Cabinet Office and is evidence of the focus to grow British technology.
As a benchmark for comparison, Tech City UK has a budget of under £2m.
The organisation also recently launched a £1m Launchpad competition seeking world-leading innovation in Internet of Things technologies.