The technological hub of East London was celebrated in the Digital Shoreditch event yesterday (Monday 20th May) at the city’s town hall. In praise of the entrepreneurial, technological and creative talent that Shoreditch has produced, Hackney councillor Guy Nicholson opened the event with a keynote speech.
Speaking from the elaborately decorated stage of the venue’s main assembly hall, Nicholson stated that the technology sector is vital for the UK economy, and that the industry represents the UK’s largest economic change since industry began back in the 1700s. Last year, the UKs online gambling sector, including online casinos such as MoneyGaming.com and sports betting sites, were worth £2 billion whilst the IMRG estimated that the UK online retail market in 2012 was worth a massive £78 billion.
The Labour counsellor stated: “We are in the process of seeing a new economy emerge – an economy which, if one really does look quite hard at it, is the economy of tomorrow, as we move out of an industrial era and into a tech era.” He added that the government must ensure that London’s tech economy receives the necessary support to encourage growth, including tax exemptions for start-up businesses and the £50 million government investment.
Nicholson recognised that this support is beneficial across the community, as this technological success is having a positive effect on other areas, such as the increased demand for skills benefiting education and leading to new initiatives and opportunities. “This economy brings with it some great, great opportunities,” he said, “opportunities not just for the few, but for the many.”
Although Nicholson expressed the communities’ desire to profit from their endeavours, he questioned how these profits would be reinvested. He highlighted the importance for London’s Silicon Roundabout hub to form partnerships with other technological cities in the UK as well as collaborating with global creative communities, such as Austin, Brooklyn, Barcelona and Bordeaux. He added: “We can create the most extraordinary opportunities.”