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Britain's technology industry is growing faster than Silicon Valley with London becoming a 'digital powerhouse' of the sector, which will pump £12billion into the economy over the next decade.

Two separate studies have shown the importance of the capital in the digital world as London prepares to welcome more than 30,000 investors and developers to the first ever London Technology Week, which takes place at various venues across the city.

Digital big hitters such as Microsoft, Google and Samsung are set to attend the event alongside homegrown successes such as Mind Candy and SpareRoom.

The Old Street roundabout in London, nicknamed the Silicon roundabout in the centre of the area dubbed Tech City

To coincide with the launch of the week, research by Oxford Economics has predicted that London's tech sector will deliver 46,000 jobs and a £12billion boost to the economy by 2024.

Meanwhile, a separate study by South Mountain Economics has found that the technology industry in London, the south-east and east of England is growing at a faster rate than Silicon Valley.

Their analysis also showed that London is a world leader in financial technology, employing more workers in the sector than New York City and San Francisco.

Many of London's emerging digital companies are based in Tech City UK centred on Old Street and Shoreditch in east London.

Firms that started out there before being bought up by larger companies include social media management tool TweetDeck and music recommendation system Last.fm.

Current successful businesses located in Tech City include Mind Candy, the firm behind the Moshi Monsters craze and Hassle.com, which allows customers to book local cleaners for their home or business.

In comparison, Silicon Valley in the Santa Clara Valley close to San Francisco Bay is home to some of the biggest technology firms in the world, including Apple, Google and Facebook.

The term Silicon Valley was first coined in 1971 and became widely used in the 1980s, with Silicon referring to the material used to make semi-conductors in computers.

Research has found that half of the most inventive towns in America are in Silicon Valley in terms of utility patents filed.

Chair of Tech City UK Joanna Shields said: 'London is a digital powerhouse. In recent years the tech sector has played a crucial role leading economic recovery, accounting for 27 per cent of new job creation.

The growth of tech industry in the UK is said to be growing faster than Silicon Valley in California, pictured, according to new research

Major digital firms such as Google, pictured are based in the Silicon Valley along with other companies such as Apple and Facebook

'We are producing world-leading digital businesses, which in turn are fuelling wealth creation and employment.

'London is one of the fastest growing tech hubs and is proving its credentials as the location of choice for entrepreneurs to start and scale a successful digital business.'

Around 90 overseas tech companies also decided to base themselves in London last year, including networking site LinkedIn and digital marketing group Solocal.

It was also expected today that Swedish firm Klarna, an online payment service was to launch in London, investing more than £100million in the city.