If the UK wants to lead in tech, stop talking about innovation and start building skills

This is no longer about adopting the latest tools; it’s about building the foundations of a digital economy that is sustainable, inclusive, and trusted.

The collaboration that the digital profession of the UK now must create is unprecedented in any industry and will set the tone of success for decades to come.

What matters most is not the technology itself but the outcomes it enables and the attitudes it embodies. When done well, investment in digital capability fuels entire ecosystems: faster scientific research, more resilient supply chains, smarter logistics, and better services across healthcare and finance. It’s the ripple effects, not the hardware, that drive growth.

Equally important is inclusion. Large-scale technology investment must benefit the communities it touches.

Technology advancements in 2025 can be described as the generational leveller of skills, there is no readymade skill set in the generation to come or the generation that is here now, the skills needed are new and for all to gain and build.

That means not just new buildings or platforms, but new opportunities, jobs, skills, and career paths.

Apprenticeships, training pipelines, and partnerships with schools and universities are essential if we want these investments to translate into real, lasting prosperity.

Without this, transformation risks being seen as something done to communities rather than with them.

Governance cannot be overlooked either. My years in healthcare taught me that you cannot simply “move fast and break things” when people’s lives are involved.

The same applies to national-scale technology infrastructure. We need agile but rigorous oversight, standards that safeguard security and interoperability, while still leaving room for innovation.

Transparency, accountability, and the ability to adapt quickly when challenges arise are non-negotiable.

The UK has an opportunity to lead. By embedding sustainability, inclusion, and trust at the heart of technology investment, we can create an environment where innovation thrives.

Imagine a future where advanced analytics power life sciences breakthroughs, where logistics networks are optimised end to end, where small businesses benefit from the same digital platforms as global players. That is the vision we should be working towards.

The real test will not be measured in terabytes processed or pounds invested. It will be judged by whether technology strengthens our society, whether people trust it, whether opportunities are shared widely, and whether it makes the UK more competitive on the world stage.

We cannot afford to treat these investments as isolated projects. They must be seen as part of a broader national commitment: to resilience, to sustainability, and to creating prosperity that is felt locally as well as globally.

Technology investment is not just a race to scale. Done right, it is an investment in people, in communities, and in the UK’s future, it is how we will make sense of the future and collaborate to be at the forefront of making a difference for everyone.

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Richard Corbridge is a Healthcare CIO and BCS Fellow.

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