New investments and policies supporting the AI, semiconductor and data industries of Wales could create a “radically better future” for the region, and for the UK’s tech minister and MP for Vale of Glamorgan, it is about more than just growth.
Tech Minister Kanishka Narayan co-chaired his first Semiconductor Advisory Panel in South Wales on Friday as part of a wider visit to the region’s chip cluster containing the likes of IQE, KLA and Vishay Newport.
In an exclusive interview with UKTN, Narayan described what advancing the tech economy of the nation means to him as someone brought up in Cardiff.
“Again and again, our communities have been promised by politicians jam tomorrow. The government today is delivering right here today,” Narayan said.
“That means that kids growing up in Wales will have a direct shot at some of the best paid jobs in industries that lean into the future and shape the world. That’s something I’m really proud of, and I think the communities here feel pride, pride in it as well.”
Wales is becoming an increasingly central part of the government’s wider plans to rapidly grow the UK’s AI and tech economy, with AI Growth Zones announced in the north and south of the country as well as a £10m semiconductor funding package announced for Wales during the Autumn Budget.
Narayan believes that as well as being key to advancing the ambitions of the Tech Department’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, these measures will mean a lot to the people living in Wales.
“I am so proud of the fact that they’re going to be 5,000 jobs in South Wales in industries of the future,” he said.
“People want jobs. People want to contribute to a national mission. But the thing they also want is ultimately the things that matter alongside those things.
“The fact that what is happening right here in the compound semiconductor industry means that mobile phones in our pockets, electric vehicles, medical devices in our NHS are all in a better position serve us better, keep us healthier, save us, save our lives.”
Narayan believes that following these initiatives, a new generation of Welsh tech founders will emerge with the confidence and resources to make a global impact.
“The aspiration is, yes, to build amazing compute and data centre businesses in South Wales, but to do so with the aspiration that, if you are a kid growing up in South Wales and right across the wider region as well, that you grow up knowing that you have the ingredients now to build the best companies and the best public service applications,” he said.
“When I was growing up, I feel like technology was still not seen as a as a central career choice for a lot of people. There is an amazing buzz and excitement amongst kids growing up in Wales today that their future can be radically better than the past.”
