{"id":902170,"date":"2026-04-29T03:12:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T08:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/liz-kendall-talks-up-work-with-middle-power-nations-on-sovereign-tech\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T03:12:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T08:12:22","slug":"liz-kendall-talks-up-work-with-middle-power-nations-on-sovereign-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/29\/liz-kendall-talks-up-work-with-middle-power-nations-on-sovereign-tech\/","title":{"rendered":"Liz Kendall talks up work with \u2018middle power nations\u2019 on sovereign tech"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"content-header\">\n<h2>The technology secretary speaks about the importance of forging alliances to make UK tech more resilient to geopolitical pressure<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"content-center\">\n<ul>\n<li><i data-icon=\"1\"><\/i><\/li>\n<li><i data-icon=\"2\"><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"contributors-block\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.ttgtmedia.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Cliff-Saran-Sep-2022-140x180px.jpg\" alt=\"Cliff Saran\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.techtarget.com\/contributor\/Cliff-Saran\">Cliff Saran,<\/a><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Managing Editor<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\n\tPublished: <span>28 Apr 2026 16:00<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"content-body\">\n<p>In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute, UK technology secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366630328\/Liz-Kendall-appointed-tech-secretary\">Liz Kendall<\/a> discussed technological disruption and Britain\u2019s role in the tech economy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366641649\/UK-businesses-must-face-up-to-AI-threat-says-government\">Technology is disrupting<\/a> our economies and societies in ways that were unimaginable a few years ago,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Kendall referenced geopolitical rivalry, which she said was driving nation-state investments in technology. \u201cWhy has China poured billions into the semiconductor industry? To catch up. Why does the US invest billions in drones and autonomous warfare? To stay ahead,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen rival countries glimpse a new technology, they rush to build it first, so they lay claim to the future,\u201d Kendall added.<\/p>\n<p>She urged policymakers and the UK tech sector to act now to cement Britain\u2019s place in the new technological era.<\/p>\n<p>Drawing on her non-tech background, having studied history at university, Kendall spoke about how, in the past, a nation\u2019s ability to pull ahead was determined by the size of its navy, which, as the news headlines over the past few weeks have claimed, is now largely depleted in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday, the defining currency is AI,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd the countries which harness AI will not only lead the race to cure diseases, discover new materials and create trillion-dollar companies, but also build far more powerful militaries.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Kendall believes artificial intelligence (AI) is the engine of both economic power and \u201chard power\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe future is coming at us fast \u2013 not in the next few decades, but the next few years,\u201d she warned. With the speed of AI model development, Kendall projected that by the end of next year, AI will be able to complete in hours what would currently take software engineers weeks.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div>\n<figure>\n   For Britain, AI sovereignty is about reducing over-dependencies and increasing resilience in key national strategic priorities<br \/>\n  <\/figure><figcaption>\n   <strong>Liz Kendall, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology<\/strong><br \/>\n  <\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In what appears to be a shift away from US-led tech, Kendall spoke about building sovereign AI capabilities in the UK. She stressed this is not about isolation or trying to build everything alone, but about ensuring Britain is indispensable in the technologies that will define the future \u2013 a keystone in the global AI architecture rather than a bystander to decisions taken elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor Britain, AI sovereignty is about reducing over-dependencies and increasing resilience in key national strategic priorities. We secure greater control and greater leverage over the issues that matter most. And if you want true leverage for your country,\u202fyou need to be\u202fa\u202fkeystone in the global tech\u202farchitecture \u2013 an indispensable partner,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>On 16 April, the government opened applications to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366641874\/UKs-Sovereign-AI-supports-supercomputing-and-drug-discovery-AI-startups\">Sovereign AI Fund,<\/a> which is offering grants of between \u00a31m and \u00a39m to fund the creation of strategic AI assets and is designed to help the UK\u2019s most promising AI startups grow, scale and succeed in Britain. The programme is initially focusing on high-value AI datasets and autonomous or automated laboratory infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.find-government-grants.service.gov.uk\/grants\/sovereign-ai-strategic-assets-grants-programme-1#eligibility\">UK\u2019s Sovereign AI<\/a> focus areas cover compute efficiency and sovereign architecture, next-generation AI labs, health and life sciences, AI for scientific discovery, and AI trust, integrity and assurance. Companies can also apply for funding if they are considered relevant to defence and national security.<\/p>\n<p>Along with backing UK AI startups through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366642362\/Government-funds-self-learning-AI-company\">Sovereign AI Fund<\/a>, Kendall said Britain needs to work more closely with international partners, especially \u201cso-called middle power nations\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Discussing how the country is working with allies to develop sovereign capabilities and increase its leverage, Kendall spoke about the Strategic Science and Technology Partnership with Germany, which includes a \u00a36m joint quantum project; the Entente Cordiale with France; the Growth and Innovation Partnership with Canada, which includes joint work on AI security; and the Digital Partnership with Japan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe recently invited foreign ministers from countries including Australia, Canada and the Republic of Korea to discuss the most pressing geo-economic challenges of our age, including technology,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u201cWe are once again asserting the importance of our international alliances because we know we can achieve more together than we can do alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To strengthen the UK\u2019s position in the race to deliver sovereign AI capabilities for the future, Kendall announced that the UK government will develop a UK AI hardware plan to secure Britain\u2019s capability in chips and the semiconductor technologies that underpin the full AI hardware stack.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"DigDeeperSplash\">\n<h4>\n\t\t\t<i data-icon=\"m\"><\/i>Read more on IT innovation, research and development<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366642362\/Government-funds-self-learning-AI-company\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Parliament-government-Patryk-Kosmider-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Parliament-government-Patryk-Kosmider-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Parliament-government-Patryk-Kosmider-adobe.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>Government funds self-learning AI company<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/rms\/lis pic.jpeg\" alt=\"LisEvenstad\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Lis\u00a0Evenstad<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366642254\/Science-Innovation-and-Technology-committee-chair-questions-UKs-tech-sovereignty-approach\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Parliament-government-sunset-Ekaterina-Pokrovsky-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Parliament-government-sunset-Ekaterina-Pokrovsky-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Parliament-government-sunset-Ekaterina-Pokrovsky-adobe.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>Science, Innovation and Technology committee chair questions UK\u2019s tech sovereignty approach<\/h5>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366642036\/UK-government-beats-drum-for-fintech-industry-at-London-Fintech-Week\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/digital-online-banking-finance-fintech-ipopba-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/digital-online-banking-finance-fintech-ipopba-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/digital-online-banking-finance-fintech-ipopba-adobe.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>UK government beats drum for fintech industry at Fintech Week<\/h5>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a id=\"DigDeeperItem-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366641874\/UKs-Sovereign-AI-supports-supercomputing-and-drug-discovery-AI-startups\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Houses-of-Parliament-exflow-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Houses-of-Parliament-exflow-adobe_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg 960w,https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/visuals\/ComputerWeekly\/HeroImages\/London-Westminster-Houses-of-Parliament-exflow-adobe.jpg 1280w\" alt ><\/p>\n<h5>UK\u2019s Sovereign AI supports supercomputing and drug discovery AI startups<\/h5>\n<div>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/rms\/computerweekly\/Brian-McKenna-profile-pic-2022-140x180px.jpg\" alt=\"BrianMcKenna\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p><span>By: <span>Brian\u00a0McKenna<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.computerweekly.com\/news\/366642532\/Liz-Kendall-talks-up-work-with-middle-power-nations-on-sovereign-tech\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n Tama Lupo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The technology secretary speaks about the importance of forging alliances to make UK tech more resilient to geopolitical pressure By Cliff Saran, Managing Editor Published: 28 Apr 2026 16:00 In a speech at the Royal United Services Institute, UK technology secretary Liz Kendall discussed technological disruption and Britain\u2019s role in the tech economy. \u201cTechnology is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":902171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1036,1607,46],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-902170","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kendall","8":"category-talks","9":"category-technology"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/902171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}