[gaius]

We have had a lot of Silicon-whatsits in the UK. Silicon Fen in Cambridgeshire and Silicon Glen somewhere in Scotland. There's a big electronics scene in Bristol.

Tho' this is something that it's impossible for governments to do, really, all the money will be creamed off by "advisers" and "consultants", small companies given impossible bureaucratic hoops to jump through, etc. The best thing the government can do is just take a step back.

Or my pet harebrained scheme: resurrect the original Acorn Archimedes and buy a million of then, requiring that all govt departments use indigenous British computing technology...

[ses]

Acorn machines were great.... ah happy days. The A3010s with their stylish green function keys!

On a serious note, I dispute that government can't have a positive impact in stimulating the technology industry in the UK. In fact if we held on to more manufacturing businesses (through state-ownership, tax cuts etc.) we'd have a more diverse and robust economy. But the current government's so called schemes to foster business and innovation are typical of this administration - there's little substance to them at all. And successive British governments have failed to truly work with businesses and really listen to their needs rather than launching grand initiatives without prior consultation to real business owners.

[pjc50]

Could you describe the electronics scene in Bristol? That sounds interesting.

RiscOS will run on the Raspberry Pi (made in Wales) if that counts :)

[pgeorgi]

Moving the UK govt to Archimedes would certainly slow down GCHQ for a while.