Plans unveiled as part of London Tech Week include promises to eliminate superfluous paperwork and save businesses roughly £1 billion.
Researchers will have more freedom to perform life-saving scientific study and make important breakthroughs that will enhance people’s lives.
Reforms to transform the UK’s data laws for the digital age and seize the benefits of Brexit include tougher fines for companies harassing people with nuisance calls and a crackdown on bureaucracy, red tape, and pointless paperwork.
In every sector of the global economy, data drives innovation. Consumers rely on data to fuel the applications they use to travel around, shop online, and manage their money.
It assists public and private sector organizations in making better decisions, allowing them to trade, manufacture, and deliver public services more efficiently. In the country’s war against COVID-19, it was utilized effectively and ethically to simulate and eventually restrict the virus’s spread.
In 2019, data-driven commerce accounted for approximately three-quarters of the UK’s total service exports, generating £234 billion for the economy.
To cap off London Tech Week, the government will release its response to a consultation aimed at using data to help British businesses trade internationally, strengthen the UK’s position as a science and technology superpower, and improve people’s daily lives.
It explains how the Data Reform Bill, which was announced in the Queen’s Speech this year, will strengthen the UK’s high data protection standards while reducing burdens on businesses, resulting in around £1 billion in cost savings that can be used to grow businesses and boost the economy.
The data regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office, will be modernized as part of the proposals, allowing it to better assist businesses in complying with the law. It will also be given more authority to deal with nuisance calls.
The changes will drive the responsible use of data for innovation by establishing clearer guidelines on how consent is gained for research, in addition to allowing the UK to join new data partnerships.
Nadine Dorries, the Digital Secretary, stated:
Today is a critical day in securing Britain’s post-Brexit position as a scientific and technology giant. Our new Data Reform Bill will make it simpler for businesses and researchers to use data to boost the economy and better society, while maintaining our worldwide gold standard for data security.
We can ensure that people have sovereignty over their personal data outside of the EU while also preventing companies, researchers, and civil society from being stymied by unclear EU regulations.
The UK Information Commissioner, John Edwards, stated:
I agree with and support the reforms’ goals.
I am relieved to see that the government has acknowledged our concerns about independence. People must have confidence in sharing their information in order to use the products and services that drive our economy and society.
The proposed changes will allow my office to remain a trusted, fair, and impartial regulator while also allowing us to be more flexible and target our actions in response to the most serious harms.
As the proposals progress, we look forward to continuing to work constructively with the government and will continue to monitor how these reforms are expressed in the Bill.
