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Getting There First: How UK Innovations Continue to Shape the World
From the construction of the first railway system to the creation of the World Wide Web – the UK’s inventions have fundamentally changed the human experience.
The UK has a heritage of being first – building innumerable technologies which has transformed our world for the better – including the light bulb, the television, the jet engine and even the simple tooth brush.
And there is still so much more to come…
Communication:
Changing the direction of human history, the importance of Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s work to create the World Wide Web cannot be underestimated.
The UK is still at the forefront of communication technology. The UK will be one of the world’s first regions to roll out 5G innovation, acting as a test bed. Vodafone, for example, is trialling 5G at the MediaCity UK tech hub in Salford while EE has started a trial in the Old Street area of London.
Transport
A driving-force in the transport sector, the UK was first to create the steam engine, build railways and pioneer the passenger train – innovations that transformed the UK socially, politically and economically before spreading throughout the world and helping to connect countries.
Fast-forward to the present day and the UK is still changing the world of transportation. This includes Westfield Technology Group, a UK business leading the way in autonomous vehicles. The company’s POD – a driverless vehicle – have now covered nearly seven million kilometres, carrying 4.5 million passengers autonomously. Extensively trialled across Heathrow Airport Terminal 5, it has helped cut journey times across the terminal from 27 minutes to just four, while saving more than 50,000 tons of carbon each year.
In the public sector, the UK encourages innovation and was the first country to recognise the importance of driverless cars, allowing companies to test connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) on public roads.
The government has announced that the first driverless public transport services on the UK’s roads will be in place by 2021.
Artificial Intelligence
The UK has a long history in pioneering AI technology, with Alan Turing, the noted UK computer scientist, laying the foundations for machine learning through his work decoding World War Two’s Enigma messages.
Today AI is big business; a study by PwC predicted that by 2030 AI’s potential contribution to the global economy would exceed $15.7 trillion USD – and for the UK alone it’s worth an estimated £630 billion. And at the cutting edge of the industry are organisations such as Google DeepMind. Founded in the UK, DeepMind was acquired by Google in a $500 million USD deal. From its London headquarters it made ripples across the world when its AlphaGo programme became the first ever AI to beat a human at Go. Not content, DeepMind went on to beat Lee Sedol, the Go world champion.
Similarly, there is Emotech, a UK start-up which has developed the world’s first robot with personality. Aiming to bring emotion into engagement, the robot is named Olly and has already become an icon in the development of robotics and AI with the ability to understand whether users are happy, or sad, and to respond appropriately.
Financial Technology
Another UK first – and one many of us take for granted – was the introduction of the Automated Teller Machine (or ATM). Inspired by chocolate vending machines, John Sheppard-Barron famously pitched the idea to Barclays Bank over a glass of pink gin after falling foul of his bank’s closing time. The resulting shift transformed the way consumers manage their money.
Today, the UK has become a hub for fintech innovation, playing host to many of the world’s first digital-only banks – including Monzo, Starling Bank and Atom Bank.
Innovation is at the heart of the UK’s heritage, its present and its future. And alongside the above industries, the UK also leads the way in sectors such education, creative services, property, engineering and life sciences. The UK government is committed to fostering a culture of innovation – investing £6 billion each year into R&D and supporting key agencies such as Innovate UK - the UK‘s Innovation Agency. With money reaching our research councils and universities to sustain diverse thinking and access to the best facilities, talent, global collaborations and partnerships, the UK will continue changing the world.
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