The video explores the UK government's ambition to transform England's Oxford and Cambridge regions into a new tech supercluster, similar to Silicon Valley. The dated infrastructure is being revived with a £5 billion project called the East-West Railway, aimed at connecting these regions and fostering technological and educational collaborations. The government is undertaking strategic initiatives to amplify science and technology growth, taking steps like investing in new national rail infrastructure to improve connectivity and supporting the substantial technological and academic potential of the Oxford-Cambridge arc.

Furthermore, the video touches on the UK's efforts to collaborate globally, especially with India, to attract skilled talent and financial investments necessary for this transformation. Highlighted are the vast opportunities presented by India's young population and growing tech ecosystem. Issues such as visa policies and investment in education and skills are discussed as important factors in harnessing this potential to achieve the UK’s tech superpower goals by 2030 amid international competition.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. supercluster [ˈsuːpərˌklʌstər] - (n.) - A large grouping of businesses or economies that are interconnected within a particular sector. - Synonyms: (network, conglomerate, cluster)

There are hopes that once connected, the region can become a tech supercluster for the UK, just like Silicon Valley.

2. unicorns [ˈjuːnɪkɔːrnz] - (n.) - Privately held startup companies valued at over $1 billion. - Synonyms: (startups, billion-dollar companies, tech companies)

Today India has over 100 unicorns.

3. triple helix approach [ˈtrɪpəl ˈhiːlɪks əˈproʊʧ] - (n.) - A model of innovation that involves collaboration between university, industry, and government. - Synonyms: (innovation model, collaboration framework, cooperative model)

The group advocates for a triple helix approach, a partnership between government, private sector and academia to boost and commercialize research from the cluster.

4. connectivity [ˌkɒnɛkˈtɪvɪti] - (n.) - The state of being connected or interlinked. - Synonyms: (linkage, connection, association)

Well, the UK government's doing something very significant in supporting the new national rail infrastructure in East West Rail, which will improve the connectivity between the two ends of the ArC.

5. migration [maɪˈɡreɪʃən] - (n.) - The movement of people to a different country or region. - Synonyms: (relocation, immigration, movement)

Do you think the political rhetoric around immigration is somehow complicating things for the UK when it comes to attracting talent here?

6. ecosystem [ˈiːkoʊˌsɪstəm] - (n.) - A complex network or interconnected system. - Synonyms: (environment, system, network)

Its the third largest startup ecosystem in the world.

7. monopoly [məˈnɒpəli] - (n.) - The exclusive control or possession of supply or trade in a service or product. - Synonyms: (dominance, control, exclusivity)

It was killed by marketing monopoly cleverness, largely from America.

8. legislations [ˌledʒɪsˈleɪʃənz] - (n.) - Laws or regulations enacted by a government body. - Synonyms: (laws, regulations, rules)

In recent years, the EU introduced several legislations to counter America's big tech dominance.

9. horizon [həˈraɪzən] - (n.) - The limit of a person's knowledge, experience, or interest; in this context, a large EU funding program. - Synonyms: (outlook, scope, extent)

The EU introduced several legislations to counter America's big tech dominance, including a 95 billion euro research and innovation fund called horizon Europe.

10. spin-out companies [spɪn aʊt ˈkʌmpəniz] - (n.) - Companies created from the intellectual property of existing research organizations or universities. - Synonyms: (spinoffs, startups, new ventures)

Now we have a good track record on technology based startup and spin out companies.

Can India help the UK create the next Silicon Valley and be a tech superpower?

This is the east West Railway, a 5 billion pound project to connect the English cities of Oxford and Cambridge. There are hopes that once connected, the region can become a tech supercluster for the UK, just like Silicon Valley. I want to ask you to help turn the UK into the world's next Silicon Valley. The British government wants to make the UK a science and technology superpower by 2030. That's in seven years. So in a post Brexit world, the UK might need some help to achieve that goal. And that help is likely to come from 5000 miles away in India. Today India has over 100 unicorns. It's the third largest startup ecosystem in the world.

We need to wake up to international competition. This dominance in one sector by the USA will not last forever. So the interesting question is how is it going to break? Who will break it?

The Oxford Cambridge arc is an economically significant area in England. Lying just 50 miles northwest of London. There are nine British universities, science centres and technology parks in between the two cities. The ARC hosts the largest space cluster in Europe and over 400 biotech companies. The region has the highest rate of patent applications in the UK, and it's where the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine was developed.

Alistair Lomax is the director of ARC Universities group. The group advocates for a triple helix approach, a partnership between government, private sector and academia to boost and commercialize research from the cluster. Well, I think the private sector's been investing systematically for a long time in the major opportunities that have flowed out of Oxford and Cambridge. What it hasn't had the opportunity to do is to invest in a system that straddles an entire region.

So what's the UK government's involvement in this area? How much are they going to invest? Well, the UK government's doing something very significant in supporting the new national rail infrastructure in East West Rail, which will improve the connectivity between the two ends of the ArC. If the support is not consistent from the UK government, it won't just diminish things here, they will go to other parts of the world.

Shortly after announcing his desire to transform the UK into the next Silicon Valley, British finance minister Jeremy Hunt visited Bengaluru, also known as India's Silicon Valley. There he met tech CEO's and founders, exploring how the UK's links with India can help achieve its goal. To become a tech superpower, the UK primarily needs two highly skilled talent and financial investment. And when it comes to talent, India is not in short supply. The country is expected to surpass China as the world's most populous country in 2023. With around 1 million young Indians entering the workforce each month. 65% of India's 1.4 billion population is under the age of 35. Just reflect on the youth, the potential and economic benefits that this young workforce could offer.

In 2022, India was the UK's 12th largest trading partner, with a trade relationship worth 34 billion pounds. Both sides are also committed to inca free trade agreement. Despite political instability in the UK and disagreements over issues such as visa quotas, we are witnessing the creation of a new golden era in UK India relations.

India has been an engineering global talent hub for the world over recent years, and I think both the UK and the USA could really tap into that talent because the mindset of young Indians is changing. They want to be innovators, they want to be job generators rather than job seekers. The UK isn't the only country hoping to attract Indian talent to its shores. According to the European Commission, four out of ten adults in Europe lack basic digital skills. At the start of 2023, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced plans to ease visa rules for tech workers from India, saying Germany needs skilled labor to meet the demand for software development.

We have this view that we can sit and wait in the UK. We can't. We're in a race. We are concerned that it looks very expensive to come to the UK. That also is part of making us not look very internationally appealing at the moment. If you want to come to the UK as a skilled worker, the amount of money you and your sponsor need to pay is more than $10,000. In comparison, other nations that are leading in science and research have an average cost of $1,600, a 500% difference.

In 2023, the UK launched a new scheme allowing up to 3000 young professionals from India to come and work in the country for two years. This was a sharp reversal from 2022, when the UK's home secretary expressed reservations about increasing visas for the South Asian nations. Because I wanted Britain to have control over our migration and to cut overall numbers.

Of course, we don't want to have to rely on immigration for the science superpower. Ambition. The government has a lot of ambition for our schools, with much more focus on teaching maths, more focus on making sure people have digital skills, which is something industry all over the world, I think, is saying it needs. Do you think the political rhetoric around immigration is somehow complicating things for the UK when it comes to attracting talent here? In my personal view, I suspect this is causing a problem to us. I think we probably don't look very welcoming to immigrants.

So how will the influx of overseas talent be received here in the UK? I've come to Oxford University to find out why immigration, even after Brexit, remains a highly contested topic in British politics. Immigration goes up in the agenda in Britain when governments are in trouble. Professor Dorling is a human geographer from Oxford University studying social inequalities in Britain. So let's talk about this broader vision. First, the UK's ambition to become a tech superpower. How do you see it?

In the seventies and eighties, there was some really interesting programming. I mean, Britain created its own microcomputer. We had a windows system before Xerox had it and Apple had it. It almost all died. It was killed by marketing monopoly cleverness, largely from America.

In recent years, the EU introduced several legislations to counter America's big tech dominance, including a 95 billion euro research and innovation fund called horizon Europe. We've seen the European Union responding very quickly to try and make sure that they keep both technology and investment in those areas in the EU. The EU may look at it and say, this isn't good, monopolies like this are not good. And that, of course, then creates a market for the same services within the EU. The UK hasn't benefited from the European Union's nine to 5 billion euro horizon scheme since the country left the European Union in 2020.

But in terms of overall funding, the UK is still out in front, ahead of its biggest competitors in Europe, like Germany and France. The British tech industry is valued at $1 trillion, making the UK the third country ever to hit this valuation after the US and China. In 2022, British tech companies raised $29.5 billion, more than France and Germany combined.

Now we have a good track record on technology based startup and spin out companies. I think the biggest challenge is how do we get those companies to grow in the UK so that they really contribute to the UK's GDP? The UK has all the ingredients to become a global tech science superpower. By 2030, collaboration and partnership will really be at the heart of that initiative. It's far better just to do it slowly, on organically, and to teach people in your schools in such a way that some of them actually enjoy and like doing this stuff. But you can't just snap your fingers and magic at Silicon Valley.

Innovation, Business, Technology, Uk-India Relations, Globalization, Oxford-Cambridge Tech Arc, Cnbc International