Welcome to the techUK Local Digital Index for 2024-2026.
"We are excited to be working with techUK and members to take the Local Digital Index to the next level.
Digital and Technologies is rightly identified as one of the priority areas to put the UK on the pathway to growth in the Government's industrial strategy green paper.
There's an established recognition and understanding that each of the other areas of activity that will drive our economy over the next decade all require first class connectivity and a high degree of digitalisation.
What will determine our success will be how this access to technology and its application serve the cities and regions with the greatest potential for taking the UK forward - in exciting prospects such as green industries, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, the creative sector, and others.
Since its inception, the Index has aimed to shine light on regions that are setting the pace, and provided pointers to others that might learn most. By getting down to the local authority and combined authority level this year, that approach significantly moves up several gears.
The hope in bringing together expanded data sets to create a multi-layered map of our digital ecosystems is to turbo-charge the Index as a tool for policy makers and partners across the public and private sectors, shaping smart Local Growth Plans that will ultimately determine the progress we make across our nations and regions.
Thinking back to the shared goals voiced in the first digital dialogues from which the Index grew, I am proud that BT Group is involved in this next stage of its evolution and fascinated to see where it leads us."
Nick Speed,
Head of Nations & Regions, BT Group
Vice chair of techUK's Nations & Regions Council
The UK's digital economy is significant. It employs 1.7 million people and it is estimated to contribute £99 billion to the UK economy each year. Its significance is also increasing, as it grows at 10% per year on average. This website has been created to understand how all regions of the UK can benefit from this success.
Note: The digital economy is defined using The Data City's Real Time Industrial Classifications (RTICs). You can read more about the sectors included in this classification in this blog post.
The UK's digital economy is built on a robust foundation of innovation, connectivity, investment, and research. This platform brings together detailed data and insights into the sectors, companies, and infrastructure that drive growth and technological advancement across the country.
From cutting-edge businesses in AI and biotechnology to the critical infrastructure of data centres and broadband networks, the digital landscape is diverse and rapidly evolving. By highlighting regional success stories, investment patterns, and the state of R&D, this site aims to provide a comprehensive view of the key elements that shape the UK's competitive position in the global digital sector.
Our goal is to foster a deeper understanding of how digital innovation is transforming economies and communities throughout the UK.
The Data City and Open Innovations have worked with techUK and BT Group to build this tool. As part of our plan to maintain the index over the next couple of years, we have created high-quality data infrastructure to power this site. Please get in touch if you feel additional data can be presented as we will look to add additional data sources in future years.
Compared to the previous version of the index, there have been two broad categories of changes: 1) Data sources, 2) Geographies. More information on the changes are available below. Importantly, these changes make comparisons with the previous version of the index more challenging, but we will aim to incorporate this analysis into the coming years of the index.
The Data City and Open Innovations have worked with techUK, BT Group, and the Combined Authorities from Greater Manchester, Glasgow City Region and the West Midlands in developing this tool.
We have assessed the appropriateness of each data source used in previous iterations of the index, as well as new data sources (including Data City and Lightcast data provided under license), to provide a comprehensive breakdown of the most relevant data for understanding the current digital landscape in the UK.
On each page of analysis, we discuss the motivations for including each dataset, and some key insights, alongside the visualisations.
To provide local insights into the digital sector and allow for more targeted action, the Index is focused on the Local Authority District, and Combined Authority or Growth Deals (Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) geographic levels. Previously the Local Digital Index presented a national and a more aggregated regional view (ITL2).
We present the Combined Authorities as of 2024. Some Combined Authorities were announced this year. The data presented is not for the evaluation of Combined Authority policies and their performance, but to understand the type of business and activity present in each area. In some cases where data is unavailable at either of those levels, we present data at national level (ITL1) level.
Note: these repositories are currently private.
