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.