This content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost. Let us know if you find any major problems.
Text in this format is not official and should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments. Please see the PDF for the official version of the document.
States Greffe
Deputy Alex Curtis
Assistant Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture
BY EMAIL
14th August 2023
Dear Assistant Minister,
Briefing on Digital Economy Strategy
The Panel is thankful for your briefing on the progress of the development of the Digital Economy Strategy (the Strategy). I am writing to gain further clarification on points discussed. I am aware previous correspondence and discussions have also touched upon these points. However, further discourse via public letter may aid in transparency and public understanding of the Strategy.
- How will the Strategy distinguish enablement of the use of existing or new technology created outside the Island, that will potentially be a cost to the local economy, and the establishment and support of businesses in the Island involved in the creation of new technologies for export globally?
- How will the Strategy compare the advantages of the growth trend of successful technology creation enterprises established locally with global reach, as demonstrated in global statistics, to the advantages of improved margins in the linear growth of existing Old Economy enterprises in Jersey after taking into account capital investment costs in technology use or production?
- Noting that, in your letter of the 12th April 2023, you indicate that the tax implications of the Strategy’s priorities will form an important part of consideration of policy options but no final decisions had been made, are any changes to the Island’s tax model contemplated to respond to the possible increase in local homeworkers employed by overseas employers?
- Will the Strategy produce a vision of Jersey’s workforce of the future for the Strategy to provide direction towards? For example, will it identify the extent to which it contemplates Jersey’s future workforce will be working for;
• local organisations within the public and private sector or
• overseas organisations
and how local businesses would be sufficiently resourced or productive to pay global market rate salaries to digital workers, such as those in cyber security?
- Will the Strategy seek to address the diversion of local digitally talented individuals into local finance industry roles or moving abroad for work?
- Does the Strategy provide any update on point highlighted in the PWC report “Digitally Upskilling the Channel Islands” regarding the future of Jersey’s finance industry and:
• how the digital landscape is likely to impact on the continued presence of the key finance companies currently operating in Jersey, and
• to what extent positions for locally employed people will be replaced by Artificial Intelligence or workers overseas?
- What benchmarks, targets and types of Key Performance Indicators will be included in the Strategy? For example, will it include numbers of locally registered patents, proportion of data scientists and software engineers to digital marketing assistants and other marketing staff, frequency of data reviews and percentage increases in Gross Domestic Product or Gross Value Added?
- Will the Strategy identify Jersey’s technological ecosystem and possible opportunities for economic growth in supporting the same?
- Will the Strategy include recommendations for inclusion in the Data Strategy such as support of open data in government to support business research?
- Will the Strategy identify obstacles to growth of digital expertise currently existing in government organisations, including existing policy in other government areas such as remuneration structure?
- Will the Strategy identify and address other types of ‘digital’ obstacles to local business growth currently existing in government organisations, including procurement and data management?
- What consideration will the Strategy give to the absence of Jersey on digital platforms such as the Rule of Law index and the Corruption Perceptions Index commonly used by global companies in considering jurisdictions in which to locate or expand operations? Noting our previous discussions, such as in your correspondence of 12 April 2023 and Quarterly Hearings, what is the rationale for developing a Digital Economy Strategy separate from the Data Strategy, Digital Education Strategy, Future Economy Strategy, Skills Strategy and Skills Actionable Agenda, Procurement Strategy, Export Strategy, Population Strategy and Tax Strategy, given the desire for joined up thinking?
a. How will these strategies inform each other rather than pull in different directions?
- Will the Strategy establish a clear plan of action or will it highlight “wish list” of outcomes?
- How will the Strategy be responding to the key messages and recommendations highlighted in:
• the Economic Council’s New Perspectives (Critical Considerations for Sustainable Economic Growth) report published in 2020; and
• the Jersey Innovation Review by Tera Allas published in 2015?
We would be grateful if you could respond to this letter no later than 25th August 2023.
If you have any questions regarding this or our work in general, please do not hesitate to contact me. Please note that unless otherwise stated, all letters will be uploaded to the Scrutiny website as a matter of course.
Yours sincerely,
Deputy Moz Scott
Chair
Economic and International Affairs Scrutiny Panel