"The U.K. is lagging behind in terms of its productivity and two things that will have a huge impact on this are digital infrastructure and physical infrastructure.
The attacks on its digital infrastructure had paralysed parliament, shut down banks, and fuelled violence in the streets.
Almost 7 million people pass through the airport every year, and a cyberattack on its digital infrastructure could have caused chaos.
We recognize that a healthy future depends increasingly on robust digital infrastructure, based on cutting-edge technology that can connect residents and businesses alike in a friendly, accessible way.
But proponents of spending on digital infrastructure say the beneficial spillover effects are greater than for conventional public works.
"Budgets are being cut and staffs are shrinking at the exact time when we need to be adapting and spending on digital infrastructure," he said.
Kaitlin Thaney works to make scientific research more efficient at Digital Science, advises the UK government on digital infrastructure and data science, is the London chair for the Strata Conference on big data, and is on the Board of Directors of DataKind UK.
Mr Manzar notes that this is problematic considering "the public welfare distribution and the financial sectors rely heavily on digital infrastructure today".
It wants to break down barriers to Europe-wide ecommerce by harmonizing cross-border taxes and regulation, co-operating on digital infrastructure builds and various other measures.
The specifics are £740m on digital infrastructure (that's things like broadband), £1.1bn to improve local transport, £250m on skills training by the end of 2020 and more investment in railways.
"We don't have any savings to pass along," says Richard Sarnoff, head of Bertelsmann's Random House digital strategy division, which is spending $15 million on a new digital infrastructure.
