The UK government cannot have 'favourites' when deciding tech policies

The UK government is very fond of telling us how well it gets on with the big AI companies – OpenAI, Google, Microsoft, Anthropic, Nvidia and so on. Ministers like to boast of the meetings they have held with senior AI leaders and to post photos on social media sat alongside the famous (infamous?) names from the sector.

It’s no bad thing. But it’s a shame they don’t feel the same way about other tech leaders – as exemplified by another area critical to one of Keir Starmer’s highest-profile policies: digital identity.

Over the past couple of years, whichever one of the many fleeting ministers that has taken on digital ID has been dragged into successive meetings with industry leaders as a result of some thoughtless policy proposal that threatens to undermine the whole sector. Investors and executives alike have been worried about the negative impact on a £2bn sector.

An investigation into the digital ID policy by the Home Affairs Committee has labelled the launch of the policy as a “fiasco”. MPs highlighted how switches in policy and poor communication mean the government is now attempting the “difficult task of rebuilding trust” in the technology.

“The rushed nature of the government’s initial announcement of digital ID, subsequent changes of policy and the complacency about government capacity for implementation suggest that the government has not learnt the lessons from previous failures,” said the committee.

And boy, have there been failures. The shambles of Gov.uk Verify set the industry back years. Its replacement, One Login, has been beset by security issues that the government refuses to talk about. None of this builds confidence in a technology that has enormous potential.

The recent digital ID consultation process has closed. The government says it has held numerous events and “roadshows” to discuss its proposals with key stakeholders. When Computer Weekly asked, in an open post on LinkedIn, who had been to any of these meetings, not one of the industry leaders said they had, and most had never even heard about any events taking place.

So why the double standards? Why are AI leaders seemingly driving government AI policy, while digital ID leaders have to fight a rearguard action to protect their interests?

The government sends mixed messages to the tech sector – openness in some areas, caution and secrecy in others. Delivering a digital economy requires more than just the “sexy” technologies, like AI. The UK tech startup market is worth about $16bn. The UK enterprise technology market – the boring stuff bought by IT leaders in businesses every day; the stuff the country runs on – is worth about $185bn.

If you’re making critical decisions on industrial and economic policy, which one would you rather be talking to?