This week Sadiq Khan launched a major city-wide initiative to harness London’s tech talent in tackling some of the capital’s most pressing challenges – including poor air quality, urban design and digital connectivity – as he published his vision to make London the world’s smartest city.
The Mayor of London was speaking at the launch of this year’s London Tech Week, which showcases the city as Europe’s tech capital across more than 200 events attended by 50,000 people from around the world.
Sadiq also launched a new piece of research that underline London’s position as a leading tech hub. He launched a report on London’s artificial intelligence ecosystem from CognitionX, which shows the capital is home to 758 artificial intelligence companies, more than twice as many as its closest rivals Paris and Berlin combined.
And figures collated by Pitchbook have revealed that UK tech companies received more than £5 billion in Venture Capital funding since the EU referendum – more than France, Germany and Sweden combined – of which London attracted more than £4 billion.
Yesterday the Mayor published Smarter London Together – his roadmap for how he will realise his ambition to make London the world’s smartest city. In it the Mayor sets out how he will help the city’s public services use tech and data to improve the lives of all Londoners.
The roadmap includes more than 20 initiatives – one of which is the Civic Innovation Challenge, which will play a major role in establishing London as a test-bed for technological innovation, as well as supporting the development of smart infrastructure and attracting investment in dynamic new businesses. It will match tech startups with leading companies and public bodies to tackle some of London’s most pressing problems, including inequality, climate change and London’s ageing population.
