"The online world can open the door to many positive adventures and opportunities, but it can also prove to be a damaging one for some people."
Under the proposals, companies will have to take “reasonable and proportionate action” to tackle “online harms” — ranging from terrorist content and child sexual exploitation to problems that “may not be illegal but are nonetheless highly damaging” such as disinformation, extremist content and cyberbullying.
The online world can open the door to many positive adventures and opportunities, but it can also prove to be a damaging one for some people. Whilst such a ruling will not impact all tech firms directly, it’s always prudent to highlight the influence tech advances can have and the repercussions they may create. Technology always generates debate. Is it a friend or is it a foe? Are there too many options dragging us in too many different directions?
The answer will vary for person-to-person and business-to-business, however, research from Kensington Mortgages certainly offered some interesting insight into how the self-employed UK workforce felt about the latest tech advances.
It outlined that almost nine in 10 (89%) self-employed workers believed that new technology will have a positive impact on their business. Interestingly, workers in Wales felt the most positive about the effect that technology will have on their business, with 96% expecting it to be a net positive over the next two years. By contrast, workers in the North West were the least optimistic, with 18% believing it will have a negative impact – the highest of any region. Despite this, the vast majority of workers in the region still felt positive about its impact, reflecting the overall optimism and tech-savviness of the UK’s self-employed workforce.
Of those total workers who believe technology will have a positive impact on their business over the next two years, 47% believed new tech will help them make more money, 44% thought it will greatly improve their day-to-day running of the business and 43% believed it will help them attract new business. As suggested in the research, it’s refreshing to see such optimism and a willingness to incorporate technology into their daily working lives. And I am sure there are many intermediaries out there who are self-employed and also reflect these findings.
The successful integration of technology remains a fine line for both individuals and businesses, large and small. When it comes to the mortgage market, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, so firms and individual advisers need to find pieces of the tech puzzle which work for them. This is also the case for the self-employed community when it comes to managing their mortgage requirements. Circumstances often prove unique, meaning it can be difficult for self-employed people and contractors to fit into a generic product box. To solve this issue, many lenders are adopting technology, aligned with human underwriting practices, to generate bespoke solutions to meet a variety of needs. With the advice process playing a crucial role in delivering these solutions to the right kind of borrowers.
In summary, self-employment and technology aren’t so different. Both are key (and growing) components within the UK economy, both continue to push innovation boundaries, and both face their fair share of challenges. So, it’s no wonder that this rising proportion of the UK workforce have embraced the latest tech advances more than most, and long may this continue.
