At the exclusive launch party for the Civo Tech Junction on 5 June 2024, Lord Clement-Jones, a distinguished member of the House of Lords and guest speaker, did not hold back his critique of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
"By not including cloud credits and overlooking the public sector, the CMA has missed a critical component of the competitive landscape," Lord Clement-Jones stated. "Public sector contracts represent huge revenue streams for Big Tech companies, increasing their size and furthering their attempts to monopolise the market. The investigation needs to reflect the realities of the market to foster true innovation and fairness."
“An overreliance on the public cloud services also presents potential security issues.” Clement-Jones continued. “There is no guarantee that sensitive UK data is located in the country, a potential vulnerability given the geo-political turmoil we’re experiencing in 2024.”
Lord Clement-Jones also shared his optimism about the future of artificial intelligence (AI) but emphasised the urgent need for international standards. "The potential of AI is tremendous, but without robust international standards, we risk facing unregulated growth that could lead to significant challenges. It's imperative that we establish clear guidelines to ensure ethical and beneficial AI development. We’ve seen the Conservatives make a start with the AI Safety Summit, but controls over AI need to be prominent in the party’s manifestos as they’re launched this week" he asserted.
Lord Clement-Jones attended the launch of Civo Tech Junction on June 5th to promote his new book, Living with the Algorithm.
The space aims to become a central hub for London’s tech talent, providing a space for hire where developers, startups, and established companies can innovate and collaborate. Non-profits and charities will crucially have free access to the space for community meetings and events.
Building on the success of its developer community and meet-ups, Civo will offer sessions that cater to everyone from new starters to seasoned tech veterans. Regular events at Civo Tech Junction will cover a range of topics such as DevOps, machine learning, cloud computing, software development, and security, all aimed at democratising access to technical insights.