
GovTech reception at No 11 Downing Street last night
—Dan Ebanks
Last night I attended a reception following an invitation from Liz Truss, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. I hasten to add it wasn’t a personal invitation and I’m not entirely sure how I came to be there, something I had in common with everyone I spoke to at the event.
Nonetheless it was an interesting evening. Liz spoke at some length around her hopes that the UK would become a leading centre for ‘GovTech’, perhaps picking up some of the slack from a peak time Silicon Valley and echoing some of the success the UK has had in establishing itself as a leading FinTech centre.
Unfortunately questions from the floor weren’t invited, but of course the wider context of Brexit and the up coming Spending Review were in my mind. In terms of the former, I’m with Danny Dyer — a mad riddle that I cannot understand. In terms of the latter, it will be interesting to see how the Treasury looks to support this growing sector with any new incentives for entrepreneurs and investors. And how it reinforces and integrates with the Government’s Industrial Strategy.
Perhaps the biggest barrier, and one I’m not sure how the Spending Review can help with, is a cultural one. From talking to people last night, it became clear that government mindsets towards tech were still far behind those in the private sector. It can be a lazy characterisation, a lazy dichotomy, but in this instance I think it’s a fair one.
I was there from a ‘tech for good’ perspective but it was great meeting other entrepreneurs who were pushing the GovTech agenda.
And, finally, kudos to Dominic Campbell of FutureGov for turning up in trainers.
Dan Ebanks is the CEO of Firesouls. Our latest product is the Social Value Exchange. Subscribe to our newsletter here.

