London Tech Week Kicks Off, Prince William Attends for the First Time

(Central News Agency, London, 8th, by Chen Yunyu) The annual London Tech Week is being held from June 8 to 12. UK's Prince William, the Prince of Wales, will attend for the first time today, convening business leaders to discuss how to leverage data and technology to prevent people from falling into homelessness. This is the first time London Tech Week has included such a topic on its official agenda.

Kensington Palace stated that the meeting will focus on how to early detect and identify individuals at risk of homelessness, allowing relevant units to intervene and provide assistance promptly. Data and technology companies can play a key role in the problem prevention stage.

Homewards, a philanthropic initiative launched by Prince William in 2023 aimed at preventing and solving homelessness through cross-sector collaboration within local communities, is an official partner of this year's London Tech Week. The initiative is supported by The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales.

According to Homewards, between 2023 and 2024, over 320,000 households in the UK faced the risk of losing their homes or becoming homeless. This represents an 8% increase from the previous year and is the highest figure on record.

Kensington Palace noted that in addition to the meeting convened by Prince William, Homewards will hold two forums and a pitch session during London Tech Week. Five entrepreneurs will showcase how they are introducing innovative technology solutions in various Homewards试点 locations.

The 2026 London Tech Week brings together over 500 speakers, including technology and related industry figures, investors, representatives from research and academic institutions from the UK and abroad, as well as UK government officials like Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall. AMD Chair and CEO Lisa Su will deliver a short speech.

In addition to the main venue, Olympia London in West London, London Tech Week also plans multiple fringe events at different locations.

Taiwan will participate in London Tech Week again this year. The Science and Technology Division of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK will hold a forum on the 11th, focusing on Taiwan-UK cooperation in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The forum will feature a keynote speech by Eddie Hsu, General Convener of the Taiwan AI Center of Excellence (AICoE), and Jennifer Liu, Deputy Convener of AICoE, as a panelist. They will discuss AI development trends, how to mitigate potential social risks of AI through enhanced policy and governance, and related international cooperation. The forum has been included as an official fringe event of London Tech Week.

Meanwhile, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), which established an office in London last May, will hold "ITRI UK Tech Day" on the 9th during London Tech Week. The event will bring together Taiwanese and British research, industry, and investment figures to review the past year's collaboration achievements and look to the future, focusing on areas including AI, quantum computing, unmanned systems, and semiconductors. (Editor: Zhang Zhixuan) 1150608