NESTA says government support is required to aid small high-tech firms in the UK

A business investment group has warned that a large number of small high-tech firms in the UK are being threatened by the current downturn in the global economy.

Based on a report from the BBC a call has been issued for the government to provide emergency funding to these businesses by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA).

If there is no intervention from the UK government the report has said that the leading international position in health care, green technology and digital media could soon be lost by the UK.

The warning made by NESTA came as plans were announced for targeted methods of aiding the high-tech industry, which included academic research funding, by the government.

Whether the government will go to the lengths that Nesta has called for in providing emergency funding has not yet been indicated.

New venture capital funding fell last year by 70 percent and the government have been advised that it should provide £1 billion for high-tech investment like the private sector have, according to a report by the group.

In order to support lending to companies that are working on new technologies the chancellor Alistair Darling has been called upon by NESTA to use the government’s multi-billion fiscal stimulus package.

The NESTA report has also stated that failure to rise to the challenges created by digital to capture a share of renewable energy and clean technology in the global market could cost the UK billions of pounds in lost revenue.

The provision of free basic broadband to the poor and the delivery of super-fast broadband access throughout the UK in the next five years by the government were called for by NESTA in February.

NESTA also said that the convergence of networks, content, telecommunications and infrastructure would be a critical step to driving the UK economy forward.