Rewiring Whitehall for UK tech success – Allan Nixon, head of science and tech, Onward

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5 • 6 Ratings

🗓️ 12 March 2024

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Allan Nixon, head of science of technology at Onward, shares his assessment of the Spring Budget, outlines steps he thinks Whitehall could take to improve tech sector growth, and compares the Labour and Conservative parties' approach to tech policy.

Nixon joined Onward, a centre-right think tank, in April 2023. In this episode, he unpacks Spring Budget announcements – from pension fund reform to PISCES. He explains why DSIT and the Treasury need to revamp their spending processes to ensure investments keep pace with the tech sector, particularly in areas like compute infrastructure. Elsewhere, Nixon shares suggestions for Whitehall to cut "bureaucratic red tape" that could support the UK's science and tech sector. Prior to joining Onward, Nixon served in various special advisor roles for the UK government – including to the prime minister, security minister and health secretary. He has also worked in Parliament.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It has been quite endemic in terms of our chopping and changing between science plans and strategies coming and going and business is often not quite being able to plan properly.
0:18.0	I think for the most part,
0:22.6	Labour and the Conservatives are fairly aligned
0:25.6	in terms of the macro aspect of it,
0:28.6	which is going for growth.
0:33.6	There's lots of things that government ministers do on a day-to-day basis.
0:36.6	There's lots of times where you can get yourself into hot water.
0:44.2	From the first-time founders to the funds that back them, innovation needs different.
0:49.9	Our episode partner, HSBC Innovation Banking, is proud to accelerate growth for tech and life science
0:56.3	businesses, creating meaningful connections and opening up a world of opportunity for entrepreneurs
1:01.8	and investors alike.
1:04.0	Discover more at www.h.hsbcinnovationbanking.com slash EN-GB.
1:15.3	Hello and welcome to the UKTN podcast, a weekly chat with the movers and shapers of the UK tech industry and the destination for all things UK tech related.
1:26.8	I'm your host, Jane Waitfield, and this week
1:29.1	I am joined by Alan Nixon, the head of science and technology at Think Tank Onward. Welcome, Alan.
1:35.5	Great to be on. Thank you for having me. Now, first of all, just briefly explain what Onward does
1:39.9	and your role within it. Yeah, so Onrude is a Westminster-based think tank.
1:47.1	We exist to try and influence government policy.
1:49.6	I am the head of the science and tech team.
1:53.7	So I focus on all things related to science and technology policy.
1:55.8	And I've been there for about a year now.
2:00.3	Before that, I was an advisor in government and various different roles across number 10, health department and
	...

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