Government sets plan to connect 15 mn premises to full-fibre broadband by 2025

The digital industrial revolution and Artificial Intelligence will bring about a step-change in automation and will generate millions of quality jobs in the near future.

The finance minister of Britain Philip Hammon announced a new target to provide full-fiber connectivity to 15 million premises by 2025 and will further extend it to nationwide by 2033, helping British firms stay at the forefront of the technological revolution. The announcement was made on May 22 at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) Annual Dinner 2018.

"We must embrace digital technology, and ensure Britain is at the forefront of the technological revolution, must invest in skills and training – to ensure the next generation is prepared for the economy of the future, build the world-class infrastructure and invest in the R&D needed to ensure Britain stays ahead in the global race," the minister said.

The digital industrial revolution and Artificial Intelligence will bring about a step-change in automation and will generate millions of quality jobs in the near future.

He announced that the government is investing over £500 million a year in the new T-Level technical qualifications and with the help of the CBI and the TUC they will establish a new National Retraining Scheme to help adults faced with the consequences of technological change to re-train throughout their working lives.

The government is set to invest £5.6 million to support smaller firms to adopt modern management practices and simple digital technologies, through two new pilot programmes delivered by Charlie Mayfield’s Be the Business and investing £640 million of public money in artificial intelligence and over £1.7 billion in autonomous and ultra-low emission vehicles.

He also announced about extending the government backing for the Made Smarter Digital Manufacturing strategy led by Juergen Maier and supported by the CBI.

"Made Smarter will help to maintain our position as a global leader in the digital revolution and so we’ll provide £20 million for a pilot in the North West, to support SME manufacturers to adopt industrial digital technologies, such as robotics and data analytics," he added.