Key findings

1. International competitiveness

The UK cements its position as a global tech leader

Its digital tech sector is a shining light not only in Europe but also on a global scale. In London, 33% of tech company customers are based outside the UK, compared to 30% in Silicon Valley and 7% in Beijing.

Global connections are key to domestic success

25% of the world’s entrepreneurs report a significant relationship with two or more others based in London, a figure beaten only by Silicon Valley.

2. Digital tech business

The UK has digital suburbs, not just cities

London’s digital density is below the UK average at 0.92, while Newbury at 15.5 is the most tech specialised local economy in the UK.

Healthy mix of growth stages across the UK

The highest proportion of clusters (36%) emerged as balanced ecosystems, 26% are scaleup dominant, and 12% startup dominant.

3. Community perceptions

Access to talent and investment continue to challenge tech communities across the UK

In 83% of clusters, the tech community cited access to talent as their biggest challenge.

UK tech communities value quality of life and sense of place

Communities identified the top ecosystem strengths as: 1) appealing area; 2) a helpful tech community; 3) proximity to a university.

4. Collaboration, connectivity and culture

UK software developers are highly collaborative

Data on 52,000 UK Github users reveals important, often hidden, ways that developers collaborate. Languages associated with web development are prevalent, the top three are JavaScript, Python and PHP.

The UK tech community is highly connected

We found 3,527 tech meetup groups, with over 1.6 million members across 283 locations. Their interactions indicate a vibrant grassroots tech scene and highlight emerging trends such as AI.

5. Jobs and skills

Jobs in digital tech are on the rise

From 2014 to 2017 digital tech sector employment rose 13.2%. Its workers are more productive, on average, by £10,000 per worker. Jobs requiring digital tech skills command higher salaries, at £42,578 compared to £32,477 for those that do not.

Jobs in digital tech are on the rise

Only 19% of the digital tech workforce is female. Despite the stereotype that digital tech jobs are for millennials, 72% of workers are aged over 35.

Tech Nation 2018 is now open!

Great news. All data featured in the 2018 Tech Nation Report is available online for non-commercial use by third parties. The data can be accessed through the data.world platform. If you use the data, please let us know. We would love to showcase your work.

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