Today, the chancellor Rishi Sunak announced his first budget as part of Boris Johnson’s Conservative Government, promising that more than £5bn will be invested into Britain’s digital infrastructure.
This investment, Sunak said, will provide gigabit-capable internet for the country’s most rural areas and increase 4G coverage to 95% within the next five years.
In response, experts have spoken of the importance of both cybersecurity and privacy as part of the Government’s tech investments.
Martin Rudd, CTO at Telesoft, said: “Broadband investments such as this in the 21st century are no longer seen as nice to have, but more of a need to have.”
Investments such as this by the UK government can only be beneficial for business and individuals alike, he added, but at the same time, the risk of cyber-threats will also grow.
“New businesses are less likely to have sufficient cybersecurity in place and as the threat landscape widens, there will no doubt be malicious actors ready to exploit it. As such, in future budgets, there should be funds ring-fenced for cybersecurity, helping ensure there is consistent awareness of the type of threats faced and how they naturally proliferate in line with any additional investments into the country’s digital infrastructure.”
Likewise, Stewart Room, head of data protection and cybersecurity at DWF, was quick to point out the growing significance of data privacy as the Government seeks to enhance the UK’s tech capabilities.
“The Government’s support for science and technology is welcome and encouraging. Our hope is that some of the new investment is targeted at growing the UK’s position in privacy enhancing technologies. This is a new market opportunity, which will scale and grow rapidly over coming years and the UK is in a great position to take its market share.”