The Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Chloe Smith, has announced a £54 million investment to support the UK’s AI and data science workforce and develop trustworthy and secure AI.

The investment is set to support universities across the UK in their work develop cutting edge artificial intelligence technology as £31 million of the funding will be used to back ground-breaking research at the University of Southampton, bringing together the expertise of academia, business, and the wider public

The funding sets out to support the new Geospatial Strategy which hopes to drive growth through emerging technology such as AI, satellite imaging and real-time data, while accelerating new research ventures within the industry, philanthropic organisations and the third sector.

The package was unveiled at London Tech Week, supporting the UK’s efforts in cementing itself as a science and technology powerhouse to help fuel economic growth and create more job opportunities.

Sridhar Iyengar, Managing Director for Zoho Europe, commented:  “The development of trustworthy AI is critical to its success. It is great to see the UK making investment to create a safe and ethical playing field for AI bringing together expertise across academia, business and the wider public to drive this forward.

“AI offers huge potential for business and the economy, as a tool to improve efficiencies and provide enhanced customer service capabilities via the use of customer service assistants, data analysis, forecasting and more.

“As the debate around the future of this emerging and fast moving technology continues, this collaboration can help to ensure best practice in providing guidance and regulation which sees AI applied to aid ethical and secure adoption and which can help the UK continue its ambition to take the lead in these industry developments. Further education from all parties will only work to increase trust and reduce fears.”

Technology Secretary Chloe Smith, said: “Despite our size as a small island nation, the UK is a technology powerhouse. Last year, the UK became just the third country in the world to have a tech sector valued at $1 trillion. It is the biggest in Europe by some distance and behind only the US and China globally.

“The technology landscape, though, is constantly evolving, and we need a tech ecosystem which can respond to those shifting sands, harness its opportunities, and address emerging challenges. The measures unveiled today will do exactly that.

Read more:
Government injects £54m into the development of trustworthy AI