London wants to be Silicon Valley...

PM wants UK silicon valley in London's East End The Prime Minister has unveiled plans to create a British Silicon Valley in London's East End, an initiative which could attract some of the technology world's biggest names.

The Prime Minister has been speaking of plans to create a British counterpart to California's fabled Silicon Valley in London's East End with the aid of capital investment from some of the world's biggest technological names. The Independent reports that David Cameron's government aims to make Britain "the most attractive place in the world to start and invest in innovative technology companies." The PM has pledged some £200m of equity finance and £200m for new technology and innovation enterprise centres in the East End, one of which will be in the Olympic Park following the 2012 games. Incredible possibilities of the Olympic Park

Quoted in the Guardian, Mr Cameron said "Our ambition is to bring together the creativity and energy of Shoreditch and the incredible possibilities of the Olympic Park to help make East London one of the world's great technology centres." "We're not just going to back the big businesses of today, we're going to back the big businesses of tomorrow," said Mr Cameron. "We are firmly on the side of the high-growth, highly innovative companies of the future." David Cameron's government aims to make Britain "the most attractive place in the world to start and invest in innovative technology companies."

New incentives to attract business To facilitate the growth of a new technological hub for enterprise in the UK, Mr Cameron says he will introduce a new entrepreneurial visa and make greater allowances for intra-company transfers of foreign workers. He explains that the new 'entrepreneur visa' will mean that "if you have a great business idea and you receive serious investment from a leading investor, you are welcome to set up your business in our country." Companies supporting these plans include Google, Facebook, Cisco, Intel and British Telecom. Google has said it will create an "innovation hub" for its researchers to work with UK academics and developers, whilst Facebook is to create a permanent home for its programme in the UK and Intel is to set up a new research laboratory. Sky News also reports that Google has prompted the PM to launch a review of intellectual property laws to make them "fit for the Internet age" in a bid to "encourage the sort of creative innovation that exists in America."