"the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) put Tech Nation’s contract up for grabs after growing concerned about its reliance on state money"[0]
"Barclays’ tech incubator Eagle Labs will use the government grant — which has been awarded for just two years — to launch new programmes to help tech companies"[1]
Q: In what sense did Tech Nation "administer" the global talent visa? It seems to be at https://www.gov.uk/global-talent - what did Tech Nation have to do with this?
When it comes to the UK, you can be sure that you will get lots of hyperbole and pretty minimal facts about this kind of thing. Not a year ago, the govt was getting criticized for creating "skilled visa schemes" for workers earning under ~£20k/year...yes, there are schemes for visas people earning over this amount too. Last year, 1m visas were awarded, this is the highest level ever.
In terms of startup funding: I believe there are now multiple multi-billion funds that are investing directly in startups, these funds even operate below the national level, Scotland has two directly run by the govt for example, local govt even has these, the govt announced today a multi-billion package for semiconductors, there are (I believe) currently three tax incentive schemes for startups.
It is important to understand that a change that is counter to this direction could just be because it is simpler to fold this kind of thing in to other services (this may just be me: I don't think having private companies involved in the visa award process is a good idea...just having Barclays do incubation is a good idea...and btw, private incubators usually have these relationships with banks too).
Of course, everything is still going to be placed within some weird narrative about "corruption" or Brexit...just UK things...
I have this visa, I've been through this process back when it was called Extraordinary Talent.
To get the visa you must first get an endorsement from a nominated organisation who's fit to judge your field (academia or research, arts and culture, or digital technology). Tech Nation did the endorsements for digital technology.
Once you have the endorsement from Tech Nation, the actual visa application done by Home Office is rather simple and is just 'rubber stamping' back in your home country.
> Tech Nation did the endorsements for digital technology
Is it possible Tech Nation were a bit too happy getting their government funding, didn't devote enough time to thinking about diversifying their income, or the "value for money for the taxpayer" angle, then were surprised when the gravy train stopped?
I did not move from the US. I initially moved to the UK on another (non-renewable) visa, and changed to Talent visa after that expired.
I enjoy living in the UK. The main thing that keeps me here is enertia - social circle and a (remote, but not async) job that I enjoy.
My initial move here was 100% a function of my age/stage in life. I do not regret moving here, and to be honest 'the current climate' doesn't really affect me that much.
"the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) put Tech Nation’s contract up for grabs after growing concerned about its reliance on state money"[0]
"Barclays’ tech incubator Eagle Labs will use the government grant — which has been awarded for just two years — to launch new programmes to help tech companies"[1]
Q: In what sense did Tech Nation "administer" the global talent visa? It seems to be at https://www.gov.uk/global-talent - what did Tech Nation have to do with this?
[0] https://sifted.eu/articles/barclays-tech-nation-grant-fintec... [1] https://sifted.eu/articles/tech-nation-shutting-down/