If Jersey is to be successful in the coming decades, it is vital that we accelerate the adoption of technology. To that end, our team at Digital Jersey continues to work in a joined-up way to connect Islanders and international entrepreneurs with the right people, empowering them to build and scale their digital businesses and get them access to the resources they need to incubate their ideas.
We are also working closely with both government and industry to build strategies and projects that grow Jersey’s economy, transform our community through digital and address the very real challenges Jersey − and wider society − faces.
In addition, we are actively supporting the Island’s ambitious tech and digital community, helping them to drive digital progress and position Jersey as a world-leading digital jurisdiction.
Innovation and Transformation
Over the past 12 months, we have seen this play out in several ways through our diverse activities and projects, all aimed at nurturing digital innovation to drive transformation across all sectors of our economy and in all corners of Island life.
One particularly significant initiative launched in 2023 was the Impact Jersey scheme, which is being delivered through Digital Jersey and is designed to support the Island’s future economy, environmental ambitions and community goals.
Impact Jersey will award up to £20 million over the coming years by incentivising innovators across the public and private sectors to collaborate and solve the Island’s biggest challenges, through the use and adoption of technology.
The first open programme last year is already providing funding of up to £75,000 for several projects, whilst the major CareTech Challenge – a £2 million grant programme – was launched in 2024 to both local and off-Island innovators, to help address Jersey’s long-term care needs against the backdrop of a rapidly ageing population.
Another key area of focus is the ongoing work going into creating a groundbreaking environment for data stewardship in Jersey. This is an area that offers significant potential and that could position Jersey as a global leader in the innovative data trust space.
Over the past year, we have continued to analyse the results of our LifeCycle data trust pilot scheme, which is pooling data together to help create safe cycling routes in Jersey but also helping us to define and nurture a robust, commercial framework for data stewardship.
Our focus on collaboration more widely has had a significant impact too – our partnerships with Mastercard, Google and Grindstone, for instance, have all helped generate positive opportunities for Island innovators, while our work with Jersey Finance resulted in the launch of ProMatch, a bespoke ‘match making’ tool for the digital and financial services sectors.
We have also worked closely with tourism and education leaders to deliver digital skills training and worked hard to fine-tune a digital skills proposition for the business community, whilst our pan-industry connections have been pivotal in once again delivering a successful Start-Up Bootcamp.
Technology Enabled
Meanwhile, the need for a digital government, not only in terms of its service but also in terms of the prioritisation of the digital sector and the digital economy, continues to be a major focus and is something that is at the heart of our Five Year Strategic Plan, published in 2021.
It has been incredibly encouraging to see the importance of being ‘technology enabled’ recognised at a governmental level as a key part of the Future Economy Programme in recent months, as well as in the first ever Government of Jersey Digital Economy Strategy.
It cements the notion that ‘digital’ has finally taken its place alongside financial services and tourism as a fundamental component of our economy and an increasingly important part of our future.
In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, it is Digital Jersey’s intention to continue to focus on supporting the start-up and growth of local digital companies as well as attracting new companies to relocate to the Island.
Digital Jersey Academy
We will deliver further training through the Digital Jersey Academy to upskill our workforce and act as a technology research and development function to develop new products and services for the economy to grow and help us achieve our smart island aspirations.
Jersey has always been proud of its key industries, from fishing and agriculture to tourism and finance and the work being undertaken by Digital Jersey is playing a key role in helping Jersey to be proud of its digital economy too.