Politicians and civil servants make up 40% of the top 10 tech influencers in the UK, showing the importance of health tech in managing the pandemic’s impacts, according to new research.
European PR agency Tyto has published its fourth annual Tech 500 Power List, revealing the most influential individuals in the UK tech sector.
The Tyto Tech 500 Power List, the only objective data-driven influence study into the UK tech sector, reveals that politicians have increased their influence, and while Fintech still dominates the UK tech scene, its influence has slipped by 34% when compared to last year.
The study found that the UK’s top 10 tech influencers are
1. Matt Hancock – UK Government
2. Richard Branson – Virgin
3. Liz Ashall-Payne – ORCHA
4. John Spindler – AI Seed
5. Boris Johnson – UK Government
6. Matthew Gould – NHSX, UK Government
7. Matt Warman – UK Government
8. Rory Cellan-Jones – BBC
9. Gary Jones – Daily Express
10. Emily Gosden – The Times
This year’s UK list is notable for the increasing influence of politicians and civil servants, with this group making up 40% of the top 10 and Health Secretary Matt Hancock taking the top spot – indicative of the pandemic’s impact across the UK tech sector. Hancock previously ranked at 11th in 2019, and 20th in 2018.
In total, 15 different sectors are represented in the list. For the fourth consecutive year, Fintech has taken the majority sector stake with 14% of influencers coming from this subsector. However, its influence has slipped by a third (34%) when compared to last year – the second largest drop other than PropTech, which dropped by 42% when compared to last year.
This year’s Tyto Tech 500 Power List also revealed that GreenTech is the only subsector to see an increase in the number of influencers when compared to last year. On top of this, 40% of GreenTech influencers in the UK are women – making it the second most gender diverse subsector in UK tech (after FoodTech & AgriTech, where 41% of influencers are women).
For the first year since the list was launched, women’s influence within UK tech has decreased, with just under a third (28%) of the UK influencer list being women. However, women’s influence on the tech sector remains higher than their actual representation in it: only 17% of jobs within the tech sector are held by women.
Brendon Craigie, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Tyto, commented: “This year’s list has unquestionably been influenced by the events and conversations surrounding the pandemic – particularly evidenced by the number of politicians making the UK top 10 this year. The huge political and economic uncertainty of the past year has also seen previously prominent sectors of technology decrease in influence, such as Fintech, whereas others, such as GreenTech, have grown.
It’s been heartening to chart the rise of GreenTech over recent years. Sustainability has steadily gained in importance, and it’s great to see the tech sector turn its focus to developing sustainable solutions which can help to address climate change.
One area of concern is that following three consecutive years of progress in terms of the representation and prominence of influential women in the UK, in 2020 we’ve seen the representation of women fall for the first time.”
The Tyto Tech 500 Power List was created using a five-stage data-driven analysis process, assessing an individual’s traditional and social media influence as well as prominence at public events.
To see the full Tech 500 or to download the Tech 100, click here.
Tyto Tech 500 Power List Methodology
Tyto has collaborated with research firm delineate to develop a methodology that identifies and tracks tech influencers across 15 sub-sectors and eight influencer groups in the UK. This methodology encompasses the influence of the individual, their brand, social media presence and of course traditional earned media as well as public speaking appearances. In this methodology, influence is a measure of the impact an individual has within the conversation of a Tech sub-sector or Tech overall.
There are four factors that combine to provide an influence rank:
1. Personal Influence using Social Media Rank – a combination of LinkedIn and Twitter Reach and Post Frequency
2. Business Authority using Owned Media Rank – Business website or blog domain authority rank
3. Industry Support – Conference Keynote – Listed as a speaker at a Tech conference in the last 12 months
4. Amplification through Earned Media– Cited at least six times in the last 12 months in key media
