Expert lays out post-Brexit vision for tech sector

Technology industry will not necessarily get preferential treatment from a national government, claims Brexit expert Paul Mason

The technology industry will not automatically gain preferential treatment from a national UK government once the country leaves the EU, according to a Brexit expert.

At yesterday's CompTIA European conference in London, the industry organisation's CEO Todd Thibodeaux said one area of Brexit that he is watching closely is whether or not a non-EU, national government might favour its best-performing industries to ensure they thrive.

The internet technology sector alone is expected to account for more than 12 per cent of the economy in the UK by the end of this year.

"Will the government use this as an opportunity?" said Thibodeaux. "One of the things they have the ability to do is favour industry segments now. They didn't have that under the EU - the EU doesn't like people doing that. Will the British government now say 'do you know what, the tech sector is probably our most important sector, we should do more to help them'. That's what I am looking at - how the government will react to the tech sector."

Keynote speaker at the event Paul Mason, an economics journalist and "recognised Brexit expert", said although some sectors may be favoured, it could be doubtful whether tech is one of them.

"The positives are, if we get to a situation where that deal is done, you're dealing with a national government again completely and you're going to have to lobby," he said. "[But] you're not going to be able to take pro-industry - or what some people would call protectionist - measures in every sector.

"Just imagine what the tech sector would look like without some of the key interventions of the European competition regulators."

"The south Wales steel industry is very important to Wales and lots of people in Wales want to keep that open and I would put money on that being kept open come what may in any event. Even if the government has to take it over and run it. Do I think the same about datacentres or the clusters of automotive industries we've got? Maybe not. I think industry lobbying will become an important industry in itself."

He added that the General Data Protection Act will be one of many things which will become increasingly important to the industry.

"For your industry, what comes out of data protection is critical - data protection, privacy and competition law," he said. "Just imagine what the tech sector would look like without some of the key interventions of the European competition regulators. You might still have to fire up a Windows laptop and there's no Netscape - remember that whole battle? So I think the big problem is that it is all a great unknown. We have to remember, Europe itself is changing. It is a moving target and Britain itself is an uncertain place."