Opinion

#UKatWebSummit

Through participation in the Web Summit, we want to strengthen the UK's leadership in combating climate change. We have, like Portugal, ambitious environmental goals.

For the fourth consecutive year, the United Kingdom will be present at the Web Summit, the largest technology event in the world, which will take place in a virtual format between 2 and 4 December.

Through our participation, we intend to show the reasons that make the United Kingdom the main investment destination in Europe. We are a nation of entrepreneurs and our products and services, our technology and ideas, have given the world some of the most emblematic innovations. Our technological sector is valued at more than 200 billion pounds (about 224,5 billion euros), that is more than a third of the total value corresponding to this sector in Europe.

We want the best entrepreneurs to see the UK as the partner of choice for the creation and expansion of technology-based businesses, for example in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI): more AI startups are based in the UK than anywhere else European country; and we are applying AI in many sectors, including the automobile, healthcare, financial services or public administration.

Through participation in the Web Summit, we also want to strengthen the UK's leadership in combating climate change. We have, like Portugal, ambitious environmental goals. And we want to reinforce the sustainability of our industrial sector. In this context, our government recently launched a 10-Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, covering a public investment of 12 billion pounds (about 13,5 billion euros), which is expected to generate private investment three times that, and create up to 250.000 jobs by 2030.

Our presence at the Web Summit will include a round table on the “UK Tech Rocketship Awards”, a program under which we intend to select the top three scale-ups with a view to accelerating their internationalization in one of the largest ecosystems in the world. This session will also cover the Global Program for Entrepreneurs (GEP), which provides expert advice to companies interested in expanding their business to the United Kingdom, the number one country in Europe for unicorns.

We will also organize a masterclass on the role of innovation and technology in combating climate change and the challenges of scaling-up that startups in the cleantech face. And we will host in our 'virtual room' several informal conversations with prominent British speakers, such as Dame Jane Goodall and Viktoria Modesta.

All information about our presence at the Web Summit, and other activities aimed at strengthening links between Portugal and the United Kingdom in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation and technology - central to the prosperity of both countries - is available at www.ukandportugal.pt. We are waiting for you!

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