UK Launches Two New Standards to Back Women in Tech: What Tech Forward and Inclusive Investment Will Change

The UK government has announced two new voluntary standards designed to help more women start, grow and stay in technology careers. The measures, unveiled as part of the Autumn Budget on 28 October 2026, take aim at two long standing problems: workplace culture in tech firms and unequal access to investment for women founded businesses. The Women in Tech Taskforce will develop the standards with industry, alongside a new scale up programme for women due to launch in 2027.

What was announced

The announcement came from the government alongside the Budget, with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and other departments working through the Women in Tech Taskforce. Two standards sit at the centre of the plan. The first, called the Tech Forward Standard, focuses on employment practices and workplace culture. The second, called the Inclusive Investment Standard, focuses on how investment reaches women founded businesses.

Both standards are voluntary rather than legal requirements. That distinction matters, because it means firms will choose whether to sign up, and the government is relying on industry pressure and public commitment to drive adoption. Early industry ambassadors named by the government include BT, Revolut, Sage, Balderton Capital and Octopus Ventures, which will help create the standards with the taskforce.

The Budget document itself describes the two standards as measures that will drive more inclusive employment practices in tech and fairer access to investment for female entrepreneurs. The government also confirmed a new scale up programme for women, planned for 2027, to help high potential, high growth businesses run by women find investment and expand.

The Tech Forward Standard

The Tech Forward Standard is aimed at the day to day experience of working in tech. According to the government, commitments under the standard are intended to improve workplace culture, and could include trusted routes for staff to report harassment so workers feel safe coming forward.

That focus reflects evidence gathered by the government before the announcement. In a recent call for evidence, 74 percent of respondents said a better workplace culture would support the progression and leadership of women in tech. The government has presented the standard as a practical response to that finding, giving firms a shared set of expectations to work toward rather than leaving each company to invent its own approach.

For employees, the practical test will be whether the standard changes anything visible at work: clearer reporting routes, managers trained to handle complaints properly, and cultures where raising a concern does not carry a career cost. The details of exactly what firms must commit to have not yet been published, since the taskforce and industry ambassadors are still developing the standards.

The Inclusive Investment Standard

The second standard tackles money. Only 2p of every 1 pound invested in UK venture capital goes to women founded businesses, according to government figures cited in the announcement. That gap has persisted even as the UK tech sector has grown into one of the largest in the world, and the government argues it holds back founders and the wider economy.

The Inclusive Investment Standard could include commitments around broadening deal sourcing channels, so investors look beyond their usual networks when finding businesses to back. It could also include tracking women led businesses from pitch to funding decision, so it becomes clear where founders drop out of the process and where change is needed. That tracking idea is notable because it would turn a vague sense of unfairness into data that investors and founders can both see.

For a founder, the difference could show up in small but telling ways: more introductions outside established circles, clearer feedback after a pitch, and a funding process where progress can be followed rather than disappearing into silence.

Why the government says this matters

The numbers behind the announcement explain why ministers chose to act. Women make up just 22 percent of the IT workforce, according to figures cited by the government. Closing participation gaps could add up to 4 billion pounds a year to UK GDP, the government said, while enabling women to found and grow businesses at the same rate as men could unlock 310 billion pounds for the economy.

Those figures are estimates, not guarantees, and they depend on many changes beyond two voluntary standards. Still, they frame the policy as an economic argument as well as a fairness argument: a tech sector that draws on only part of the population is leaving talent and business growth unused.

What happens next, and what to watch

The next step is development of the standards themselves. The Women in Tech Taskforce will work with its industry ambassadors to turn the broad commitments into specific expectations, and firms will then decide whether to adopt them.

Three questions will decide whether the plan amounts to real change. First, how specific will the standards be, and will adoption be public so jobseekers and founders can see which firms have signed up. Second, whether investors will publish pitch to funding data, or keep the tracking internal. Third, whether the 2027 scale up programme reaches founders outside London and the established startup hubs, where networks and funding are thinnest.

Critics of voluntary approaches will note that firms with the worst cultures are the least likely to sign up, and that standards without enforcement can become a badge rather than a change. Supporters will argue that a shared, public standard gives employees, founders and investors a benchmark they have lacked, and that transparency itself creates pressure. The announcement sets a direction, while the detail still to come will decide its impact.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the two new women in tech standards?

The Tech Forward Standard focuses on workplace culture and employment practices in tech, possibly including trusted harassment reporting routes. The Inclusive Investment Standard focuses on fairer access to investment for women founded businesses, possibly including broader deal sourcing and tracking from pitch to funding decision.

Are the standards compulsory for tech companies?

No, both standards are voluntary. The government is working with the Women in Tech Taskforce and industry ambassadors, including BT, Revolut, Sage, Balderton Capital and Octopus Ventures, to develop them, and firms will choose whether to adopt them.

When will the scale up programme for women launch?

The government has said a new scale up programme for women is due to launch in 2027. It is intended to help high potential, high growth women led businesses find investment and expand, with support such as workshops, peer learning, networking and investor introductions.