Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to develop an exascale computing capability in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Expanding the UK’s compute capability is essential for the development and adoption of AI, scientific research, and improving public services. DSIT and UKRI are taking forward the development of the AI Research Resource, a network of clusters, currently consisting of Isambard-AI, in Bristol, and Dawn, in Cambridge, which will be fully operational by the summer. When this capacity is live, it will increase the UK’s existing public compute capacity by thirty times.
The government set out the further steps it will take to scale-up our compute infrastructure in response to the AI Opportunities Action Plan. This includes commitments to expand the AI Research Resource (AIRR) a further 20x by 2030, and to publish a long-term compute strategy. The government is developing this strategy and recognises the importance of large-scale scientific computing.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to upskill public sector workers in artificial intelligence (AI) to improve productivity; and what training in AI is given to civil servants.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Government Digital Service leads on developing our digital experts, and is taking steps to upskill public sector workers in artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance productivity. This includes the AI Accelerator Programme which, as one of the five Kick Starters in the Blueprint for Modern Digital Government, will upskill >50 data scientists to become machine learning engineers. Furthermore, following a successful AI pilot with second-year Digital Fast Streamers, the Government Digital Service is introducing AI to the broader digital Fast Stream curriculum. Finally, the Civil Service Learning platform offers over 250 hours of AI learning, and is available to all civil servants.
The incubator for AI, within GDS, is also building a suite of productivity tools for public servants, nicknamed 'Humphrey' including meeting transcription and consultation analysis.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what contribution they are making to human spaceflight, what assessment they have made of whether the UK should establish its own human space flight programme, and what estimate they have made of when a British mission will visit the moon and Mars.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK makes a significant contribution to human space exploration via investment through the European Space Agency (ESA). Rosemary Coogan is now training with NASA in Houston ahead of a long-term mission to the International Space Station. John McFall and Meganne Christian, who are both in the ESA astronaut reserve, are currently training at the European Astronaut Centre in Germany to prepare them for future space missions. These missions are not yet identified.
The UK Space Agency is also working with Axiom Space to explore the potential for a first of-a-kind commercially sponsored UK astronaut mission to the ISS. We have not made a specific estimate of when a British mission will visit the moon or Mars.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what measures they are putting in place to ensure that every government department is accelerating the adoption of artificial intelligence for government business.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The AI opportunities Action Plan has been published and in response, the government has accepted all 50 recommendations. The digital centre within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, has been established to bring together central digital, data, technology and AI teams and act as a catalyst for technology adoption and service transformation across government.
The digital centre is leading the response to public sector AI adoption and working across departments to drive the use of AI within government, and the wider public sector, to improve citizens’ lives and make government more efficient. This includes adopting a ‘scan, pilot, scale’ approach to rolling out AI tools, building on the work of the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence.
Asked by: Lord Kempsell (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many government departments met the June target for having a costed and reviewed artificial intelligence adoption plan in place; and which, if any, did not meet that target.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
At the start of the year, Departments were sent a commission to submit initial returns on their plan for AI adoption: 17 Departments responded. Workshops were then held with a smaller number of prioritised departments to understand their AI adoption opportunities and challenges in detail, ahead of an expected spending review. This work was paused due to the general election.
The new government is fully committed to harnessing AI and other technologies to deliver the government’s five missions and improve citizens’ lives. However, rather than being bound by the commitments of the previous government, the government will instead set out revised plans for accelerating the adoption of AI in public services, in due course.