Britain possesses a unique economic opportunity: to become the world’s leading place for the trade, management, and ownership of data. In doing so it can boost the British tech sector, create a new layer of professional services, and potentially develop new market-leading companies. We sense this opportunity for 3 reasons….

The British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories (CDOTs) get a bad rap. A diverse set of islands, military bases, and one peculiarly-shaped peninsula, the CDOTs occupy a strange role in the public mind. Ignorance and double standards abound. Campaigning NGOs are wont to give the impression that these jurisdictions are embarrassing relics of the empire, or dubious centres for financial crime. Newspapers will raise ‘concerns’ when investment infrastructure is funded by entities based in the Cayman Islands or Jersey; MPs will occasionally urge that Britain somehow seize the capital ‘sitting’ in these islands. These views are worse than wrong: they are stupid. They are based on a misunderstanding of Britain's economy, Britain’s history, and the actual activities of the CDOTs. Perhaps more worryingly, they fail to account for the exciting new opportunities the CDOTs offer in emerging technology.