Equity can give the UK a competitive edge in innovation

The Equity Charter was set up to tackle discrimination in the digital health sector. As its first Community of Practice event launches, co-founder Hassan Chaudhury writes that we must grasp the opportunity to take a world-leading role in digital health equity

The UK’s position as an innovation leader is constantly under threat.

We cannot compete with the scale of novel technology or the knowledge workforce that India or China are generating and the USA remains the global leader in turning innovation into products and then into thriving enterprises.  

Furthermore other, often smaller, nations are aiming for our share of the market. The Netherlands, Israel, Singapore, and many others besides are pushing the boundaries of applying technology to solve problems, and openly seeking partnerships. 

Others like Saudi Arabia and the UAE have the cash reserves to attract innovators and to ‘leapfrog’, bypassing the pain of slow digital transformation to arrive at modern standards from a low base.

It’s not just about money either. Just look at how fast Egypt has transformed recently.

Equity is the key to differentiating ourselves on the world stage

So where does the UK fit in the global innovation landscape?

This was the theme of the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy published this summer (largely overshadowed in our sector by the 10 year health plan), with its eight separate sector plans. 

The digital and technologies sector plan explained how well placed we are, and focused on six frontier technologies with the greatest growth potential including AI, engineering biology, and cyber.

In order for us to distinguish ourselves internationally, the focus has to be genuinely distinct, but we must also be true to ourselves.

Equity is the answer.

This is not just because it is critical in itself, but also because it is the key to differentiating ourselves on the world stage. 

Nuanced support

Equity is often confused with equality, but it differs because it doesn’t assume a level playing field.

Its starting point is that social and economic inequalities are already baked in, systemically. It must therefore be identified and then designed out.

This means support for people is nuanced as it recognises homogeneous support doesn’t work for heterogeneous circumstances, which is also why active listening and co-production are often features. 

Digital equity is a subset of the broader topic of equity in society. It is about ensuring people aren’t left behind as technology proliferates and are able to participate fully in society.

It recognises the potential for gaps to appear between people who are thriving due to technology, and those who require support to avoid being excluded.

An important element is that we continually risk baking in digital inequity if we do not consider such factors early on. This is a space where the UK can take a lead.

We can go further by considering health equity, another sub-domain of equity, which typically focuses on the wider determinants of health.

Health equity is how we begin to reduce health inequalities which can be defined as avoidable, unfair, and systematic differences in health status between different groups of people, including the care they receive and the life opportunities they enjoy.

Now picture a Venn diagram. Within the largest, general circle of equity are two other circles, digital equity and health equity. 

Imagine that we focus on technologies and businesses that embed equity from the outset

Digital health equity is at the intersection where these two circles overlap. It is focused on the health-specific elements of digital inclusion/exclusion, digital literacy, algorithmic bias, user-centred design, policy, and representation in research. 

This has specific relevance to digital staff in health and care. Think about the digital solutions we procure.

Are they embedding inequity? Is our data representative? Does this influence our decisions negatively? Do our clinical trials reflect our populations? Have we designed services that make access harder? Have we got a skills or literacy gap? Does our workforce truly reflect those we serve? Are we failing on recruitment and retention because of this? Does any of this prevent us from being fair to patients, carers, and service users? 

Now imagine that the UK doesn’t just aim to be one of the best three places in the world to create, invest in, and scale up a fast-growing technology business.

Instead imagine that we focus on technologies and businesses that embed equity from the outset.

This is the differentiation we require to succeed in the coming decades for international competitiveness.

Global advantage 

We have other advantages required to turn this into global advantage. We have the evaluation and regulatory environment to make this a reality, a tech sector that is often driven by social purpose, and the NHS as the testbed.

We also have a pressing need to address social and health inequalities. While we could easily make an economic case, the moral case stands out. 

The inequalities people live with are systemic, not of their own making. It is immoral to leave inequalities in place, and even worse to double down and compound them.

We also live in desperately tense times, especially if you are actively and irresponsibly being ‘othered’ by certain media outlets or political parties.

There is an irony in proclaiming to unite the kingdom while excluding those they view as ‘other’. Racism is inherently exclusionary.

We have a pressing need to address social and health inequalities

This is not just about flags, and it doesn’t just affect immigrants and asylum seekers in hotels. It raises the temperature for us all.

The dog whistles are being blown ferociously, ostensibly around small boat migrants invading and swamping our island, but really it means far more. Coded language racism means racists and fascists feel emboldened to be aggressive online and in everyday life, on buses and trains.

Chillingly a higher temperature has led to more racism against NHS workers. It means more bullying of the vulnerable. It means we compound all the inequalities, and then some.

I believe equity is the answer here morally, on a macroeconomic basis, and to differentiate the UK for global competitiveness.

Hesitation won’t help us. The case for action is truly compelling, and the consequences of inaction do not bear thinking about. 

Hassan Chaudhury is digital propositions lead for Medica, commercial director at DATA-CAN, the HDRUK Hub for Cancer, and a co-founder of The Equity Charter. He promoted the national digital health offer abroad for the UK government from 2018-2022.

The first Digital Health Equity Charter Community of Practice event is taking place in London on 10 November 2025.