After his election, London’s new Mayor Sadiq Khan explained what are his plans to take tech to the next level. Here is his Manifesto.
London can become a world-leading tech hub – as Mayor I’ll work to remove the barriers to growth in London tech, and take advantage of the innovative work happening in our city to improve governance.
I will:
- Establish a tech talent pipeline, through the Skills for Londoners taskforce, following the model developed by Bill de Blasio in New York, with more young people enabled and encouraged to gain key digital skills, and more apprenticeships in the sector. In particular I will ensure more girls are supported to develop tech skills, so that we can turn around the under-representation of women in tech jobs.
- Improve our connectivity, making it a priority to tackle London’s ‘notspots’, ensuring better access to public-sector property for digital infrastructure, and treating digital infrastructure with the same status as other key public utilities.
- Broker a deal between providers and local authorities to provide better access to public property and land for the installation of broadband infrastructure.
- Appoint a Chief Digital Officer to oversee growth in the sector as well as taking responsibility for increasing digital inclusion across our city and leading on cyber-security.
- Put an open data strategy at the heart of London government, with a new London data office working to bring data from across London’s boroughs and public agencies together, and opening it up to enable quicker decision making, better services, more efficient government, and greater transparency.
- Support innovative tech solutions which enable Londoners to access and use public services and information more easily and efficiently.
