>>Nikesh Arora: So I'm sure all of you have lots of interesting questions, and part of
it is that as I was reading up, trying to figure out what question to ask, there are
so many things we could talk about that you would have to miss your train. So we're not
going to do that. >>George Osborne Yeah. No, we won't.
>>Nikesh Arora: All these people in this room are leaders. They all make decisions every
morning and they get held accountable for their decisions very soon after. And you've
heralded a lot of change in the last one year, lots of different things.
How would you rate your decisions and how would you think of yourself after one year,
if you were these people holding us accountable? >>George Osborne: Well, the great thing about
my job is everyone else rates my decision so I don't have to do it myself.
[Laughter] >>George Osborne: Look, I think we've -- I
would say a couple of things. I mean, first of all, I think we've achieved
a lot in the last year. I mean, particularly given that we are a coalition government,
given that we didn't have a majority in the Parliament, no one party had a majority in
the Parliament, and really I think the last year has shown that that has not proved to
be a hindrance to taking some really ambitious reforms. Not just on the economy, but also
in public services, education reform, higher education reform, you know, where I think
we took some very necessary decisions to ensure it was properly funded, and police reform.
And of course health reform which, you know, we're now engaged in a process of improving.
But, you know, these are big changes. And then some of the things I highlighted
today, I did so because in amongst the big arrangements, a lot of those sorts of things
which we've spent quite a lot of time trying to get right and we think is quite original
to our government have not, for understandable reasons, got much attention.
So, yeah, I think we've shown we're a strong government taking difficult decisions, we
believe, in the national interest. It's up to you lot to decide whether we've done a
good job or not. >>Nikesh Arora: I think these changes are
very exciting. A lot of the stuff that you're done and you're proposing are going to be
very interesting things for all of us to watch out for.
You alluded to all these people in the room. You said, you know, you want to see how these
people are making an impact. What else could people in this room be doing, in addition
to all the things you've highlighted, to support some of these changes and some of these ideas
you've brought forward? >>George Osborne: Well, I'd just say I think
if you look at many of the companies represented here, and the individuals here, there is a
massive opportunity when you open up a sector which currently accounts for around 48% of
the national income to the private sector to make use of the data that it produces.
When you think of the amount of data produced by -- you know, out of a city like London,
the transport data, the social data, the crime data and so on, and put that to commercial
use to help individuals find out more about the city they live in, get the services they
want, as well as the job that the government has in providing free information as we've
done through crime mapping, I think is just an enormous economic opportunity and I would
urge people to get in there, get stuck in. I think the scope for new applications, new
uses of that data, is enormous. >>Nikesh Arora: People, if you have questions,
please feel free because we have very few scarce minutes with George.
>>George Osborne: I should have explained I'm going to a meeting of European finance
ministers in Brussels so I've got to get the train. Not everyone is going to be there,
but -- [Laughter]
>>George Osborne: -- I'm going to make sure I am.
[Laughter] >>Nikesh Arora: Do you have a question?
>>Tim Lefroy>>> Thanks, Nikesh. Sorry. Excuse me.
Mr. Osborne, Tim Lefroy from the Advertising Association.
I found that really inspirational, the package of measures that would make the U.K. attractive
to international business leaders here. And it's very true that government's doing
a huge amount. Do you think you've been as good at actually
telling people about that and actually getting the message out, especially what you're doing
for business in the U.K. and attracting inward investment?
>>George Osborne: I think the truth is -- and I don't complain about it, and for very understandable
reasons -- a lot of international attention and domestic attention has focused in Britain
on our public expenditure savings and the decisions we're taking to reduce this 10%
budget deficit, and therefore, some of the other things we're doing have not received
the same amount of attention. Now, that is -- as I say, I'm not complaining
about that. I think that's where the political argument is, that's where the international
interest in. But on business more generally, we are also
taking a pretty aggressive approach to making the U.K. a more competitive place to do business,
aggressive reductions in corporation tax from 28% to 26% this year, down to 23% by the end
of this Parliament. I mean, that is something that the rest of the world is beginning to
notice: Look what the U.K. is doing. And a lot of the entrepreneurial tax breaks
as well. So add into that this whole agenda, which
there is a dedicated team right in the heart of 10 Downing Street -- this is not peripheral
to the government. For those of you who know the government, you will know that the individuals
involved in this are right literally in the next-door office to the prime minister and
we all try to be, for a large advanced economy, the first that really embraces the governing
potential, the governance potential, as well, of the Internet and the information opportunities
that exist. >>Nikesh Arora: Thank you. Please.
>>Jon Fredrik Baksaas: Thank you. My name is Jon Fredrik Baksaas from TeleNor in Norway.
I agree with the previous speaker here that your speech was very optimistic in its term
on what it's going to deliver, but one question to you.
When you are sort of putting digital means into the government processes the way you
were discussing here, how do you get the string of people involved in the old processes to
sort of embrace it in the same way as you have done as government? And is it because
of the crisis that you might get people to understand that it is a necessity to spend
government funds better and to increase the efficiency there?
Are these factors that play in to the ability to get this done?
>>George Osborne: I think that helps. I mean, look, first of all, government, by
its nature, has been for, you know, hundreds of years -- probably since the creation first
of government, whenever it was several thousand years ago -- is hierarchical, it is bureaucratic,
and it's very large. I mean, I think sometimes it's worth remembering the scale of some of
the government departments in the U.K., let alone, you know, larger countries who have
larger populations. So the health service employs 1.4 million
people directly and that is an enormous organization. And you're trying to make it less hierarchical,
trying to empower the service deliverers, the professionals who actually work in public
service as well as the users, is a big challenge, but I think actually the technology provides
a powerful tool for doing that. You need to have the capability of the Internet
to allow patients to look at different hospitals and compare different performances rather
than having to go to the public library and go through a book.
So I think there is an opportunity there. I think second -- you alluded to this -- I
think the truth is this: That, you know, although there is a debate about the pace of deficit
reduction in the U.K. between the late body and the coalition government, the truth is
that everybody has got to understand -- and I think everyone does understand -- there
is going to be a reduction in this deficit over the next few years, and that the public
services are not going to have the resources that they once did, or at least the annual
increases that they once did. And so that is forcing people in the public
services to think about how you deliver education or healthcare in a more efficient way or get
better value for money. And when the money was pouring in with big
annual increases, that was not a primary concern, understandably, because they wanted -- you
know, they were more interested in how they were going to spend the additional money.
So I think there is a greater focus and that is forcing that thinking.
>>Nikesh Arora: Well, George, I know you have to run. Thank you very much for kicking us
off. Thank you very much for your inspirational words.
[Applause]