The UK keeps producing world-class technology, then watches many of its companies scale in America.

Rory Daniels, Head of Emerging Technology and Innovation at techUK, joins Thinking on Paper to discuss whether the United Kingdom can remain competitive as quantum computing, robotics, photonics, AI and advanced computing begin to converge.

The UK has strong research institutions, deep technical talent and globally significant companies. Its recurring problem is scale. Promising technologies are often developed in British universities and laboratories, then commercialised or funded elsewhere.

In this episode, we discuss:

-What makes the UK robotics industry different from the US and China.
–Whether robotaxis can coexist with London’s black-cab industry.
–Why UK technology companies struggle to scale after the startup stage.
–The role of universities, technology-transfer offices and regional innovation clusters.
–How techUK connects companies, researchers and policymakers.

Rory argues that the UK’s advantage may not lie in dominating a single technology. It may come from combining existing strengths in AI, chip design, robotics, quantum computing, photonics and connectivity.