Fast-growing UK tech companies secured a record £5.5bn in foreign investment in the first seven months of this year, according to research for the government’s digital economy council. The study for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) revealed that the UK has overtaken the US for the amount of investment per capita.

Funding growth was driven by US and Asian investment in private companies valued at more than $1bn, such as a renewable energy company Ovo Energy and takeaway business Deliveroo.

The CBI is calling on the government to establish a joint commission tasked with examining the impact of AI on people and jobs across all sectors of the UK economy.

Based on research it conducted into the way that technology is changing the way we live and work, the CBI said recently that it had identified three technologies - AI, Blockchain and the Internet of Things - that are set to move from the fringes to the mainstream within the next five years.

However, it also found, that only a third of businesses currently have the skills and capabilities needed to adopt AI technologies, and that more needs to be done to help prepare those companies for the future.

The recent cyber attack on organisations around the world, including our very own NHS, has been in the minds of professionals for a long time yet nonetheless for many others has clearly been something of a wake-up call. In the near future, as artificial intelligence (AI) systems become more capable, we will begin to see more automated and increasingly sophisticated social engineering attacks. 

The rise of AI-enabled cyberattacks is expected to cause an explosion of network penetrations, personal data thefts, and an epidemic-level spread of intelligent computer viruses. Ironically, perhaps our best hope to defend against AI-enabled hacking is by using AI.  Yet this is very likely to lead to an AI arms race, the consequences of which potentially may be catastrophic in the long term, especially as big government actors join the cyber wars.

RWA is open and is a firm with ideas - with new hiring options and tailored recruitment solutions to complement what you already do. 

Are your current recruitment strategies delivering the results your business needs? Or fast enough? We recognise that hiring post BREXIT is harder for tech businesses, especially those located outside London. Hiring has not been put on hold and job advertising activity has not reduced. 

With a global population explosion underway and increasing numbers of people migrating to urban centres, some argue that cities will have to get smarter or face collapse.  Which is why, according to industry analysts, the “smart city” will represent a $39.5bn (£25.1bn) marketplace by 2016.

Whole new cities, such as Songdo in South Korea, have already been constructed according to this template. Its buildings have automatic climate control and computerised access; its roads and water, waste and electricity systems are dense with electronic sensors to enable the city’s brain to track and respond to the movement of residents. But such places retain an eerie and half-finished feel to visitors – which perhaps shouldn’t be altogether surprising.

The Tech Monitor UK report has found employment in technology companies is much stronger than the UK-wide employment trend.

The new report by KPMG and Markit on the UK technology sector has used 10 years’ worth of data from the UK Tech Sector Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), up until August 2013, to identify the main UK tech clusters, job hiring trends and how confident UK tech companies are in their business outlook for the next 12 months.