1. Introduction
London is the capital, the centre of politics, economy, culture and finance of the United Kingdom. London owns a population of nearly 8.9 million (2017), an area of 1,577 square kilometers, and a GDP of $653.2 billion (2018). London's advantageous industry include finance, technology, education, culture, media and fashion. According to the 2019 Global Innovation Cities Index published by 2 thinknow, a business data company in Melbourne, Australia.
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2. The development of Innovation
(1) Innovative Development Strategy of the UK and London
A. Innovative Development Strategy of the UK
Industrial Strategy: Building a Britain Fit For the Future Green Paper (2017) and International Research and Innovation Strategy (2019) published by the UK government, are the latest policy framework document on industrial development and scientific and technological innovation at the national level. Building Our Industrial Strategy Green Paper has proposed three main goals, including consolidating advantages of the UK and building a solid industrial foundation for the future; shrinking the gap, so that the most productive British firms, industries, regions and labours are in balance with the less productive others; making Britain the most competitive centre for innovation and entrepreneurship. International Research And Innovative Strategy(2019) has proposed that scientific and technological innovation based on global partnership is the core of implementing Britain's modern industrial strategy. It identifies four major challenges: artificial intelligence and big data, clean growth, a mobile future and an aging society. It sets an overall goal of spending 2.4% of GDP on research and development by 2027 (up to 3% in the long run) and becoming the world's most innovative state by 2030.
B. Innovative Development Strategy of London
London’s Digital Future: The Mayoral Tech Manifesto 2016 published by the City of London has proposed that London needs to become not only a hub for global technology companies, but also a leader in the second digital revolution and the world's leading digital city. The manifesto is the latest innovation and development strategy of the City of London. For the first time, it puts forward a digital technology inclusive strategy and defines 13 specific measures, including universal access to digital technology, promotion of global trade in digital technology, and introduction of international scientific and technological talents.
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(2) The Subjects of Innovative Development
London's innovation development subjects include: universities, technology enterprises and national research institutions. Under the intervention of the British government, the national research institutions retain only their core research departments, and most of the technology is turned into products and run as companies.
A. Institutions of Higher Learning
The University of London was established by Royal Charter in 1836 as a confederation of universities and research institutions. The University of London has 18 member institutions and 2 million alumni, including 12 monarchs or royals, 52 presidents or prime ministers and 84 Nobel Prize winners. Its colleges include University College London, King's College London, Queen Mary University of London, London School of Economics and Political Science, Royal Holloway, University of London, City College London, Birbeck College, University of London, London School of Oriental and African Studies, London Business School, etc. Imperial College London became a direct college of the University of London in 1907 and broke away from the University system in 2007.
B. High-tech Enterprises
According to a report on the London’s science and technology industry published by Tech London Advocates in early 2020. The top 50 "deep technology" companies and the top 15 "Future stars" in London are mostly concentrated in the fields of digital technology, artificial intelligence and fintech. Digital: DeepMind, combining machine learning and systems neuroscience to build general-purpose learning algorithms, acquired by Google for $525 million in 2016. Benevolent AI, using artificial intelligence to drive drug development, valued at about $2.1 billion after its most recent funding round in 2018. Fintech: Disruptive fintech companies such as Funding Circle (credit lending), Azimo (money transfers), Powa Technologies (mobile payments), Transferwise (mobile payments) growing fast. E-commerce: ASOS, FarFetch and other e-commerce companies becoming global e-commerce fashion brands.
C. Research Institutions
National-level research institutions in London include: Royal Society of London, UK National Physical Laboratory, UK National Engineering Laboratory, Alan Turing Institute (UK National Centre for Big Data Innovation and Application), Francis Crick Institute (the largest single biomedical laboratory in Europe) and so on.
(3) Significant Platform for innovation and cooperation
London Technology Week is the largest technology event in Europe supported by the UK government, the UK Department for International Trade, the City of London, London Development and Promotion Agency and hosted by a number of private technology enterprise organizations and networks. London Tech Week takes place every June and has been held for six times so far. Former British Prime Minister Theresa May has delivered an important speech at the opening ceremony of London Technology Week 2019. London Tech Week 2019 is a seven-day event featuring more than 300 events and speeches by more than 1,000 tech industry leaders. A total of 58,000 people attended the event, of which 35% were representatives of technology companies above the C round. The main events at London Tech Week 2019 are: the AI Summit, TechXLR8, Founders Forum, the UK-Asia Tech Powerhouse Conference and the IBM Symposium.
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