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President of techUK welcomes Prime Minister Theresa May to LTW’s Opening Ceremony as government announces £1.2 billion investment in UK tech industry.

The sixth London Tech Week yesterday kicked off with an Opening Ceremony at HereEast. Throughout the event, we heard from inspirational speakers on collaboration, innovation, transforming humanity, creating a world-leading tech hub and building unicorns.

Our president, Jacqueline de Rojas CBE, was master of ceremonies and welcomed Rt Hons Prime Minister Theresa May to the stage for her speech covering the Government’s commitment to UK tech.

JACQUELINE DE ROJAS CBE GAVE THIS SPEECH TO SET THE STAGE FOR THE WEEK:

“As President of techUK it is my honour to say welcome to London Tech Week. And what a week we have lined up!

This is the biggest, most ambitious festival of tech this country has ever seen. We have hundreds of events and speakers and many thousands of participants from up and down the country and all walks of life.

The scale of this week’s programme is impressive and as we face into an increasing digital economy, it’s the very least we should be doing.

From international investment to ethics and important innovations in tech, these events are designed to encourage and engage people in technology. Giving us all the opportunity to share, learn, connect and inspire the next generation.

We are going to hear from wise old owls and young upstarts. Entrepreneurs and CEOs from right across the spectrum. The teachers, the students, the dreamers and doers, everyone is invited to this celebration of innovation.

Tech, of course, is not without its challenges and we’ll be discussing those too. We all know that IT can do so much good for the world, but that with these benefits come issues that must be addressed. Whether it’s managing privacy, security or driving diversity and spreading opportunity, there is much work to be done.

We must think harder and more deeply about how we deliver tech for good. We should reflect on the purpose of what we are doing.

There has never been a more important moment than now to create a world which works for everyone.

London Tech Week, produced by Informa in partnership with London & partners and Tech London Advocates, would like to thank our strategic partners for their support; Shanxi Province for hosting our refreshments and registration desk; and HereEast and Plexal for hosting the event."