Government signals £100 million investment in The Alan Turing Institute

Despite being somewhat restricted in scope for pre-General Election ‘giveaways’ due to the current weakness of the public finances, Hunt has nonetheless put the five-year package of funding in place. His Majesty’s Treasury has asserted that the money will allow The Turing Institute – established back in 2015 and named after the pioneering computer scientist and mathematician who died in 1954 – to “make fresh advances” in the realms of data science and AI.

The Alan Turing Institute’s work is currently centred on three grand challenges aimed at tackling some of the foremost issues facing our society. In addition to concentrating on defence and national security-related tasks and projects, there will be a keen focus on the environment and sustainability in addition to health and well-being.

Further, this challenge-led approach will witness The Alan Turing Institute carry out a programme of targeted activity designed to ensure the UK operates a fair and equitable digital society wherein data science and AI work in parallel to improve productivity and economic growth.

The five-year investment emanates from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) through the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. It allows The Alan Turing Institute to build on its work to date and follow through on goals outlined in its new strategy, which was launched on 21 March at AI UK.

Sir Adrian Smith, director of The Alan Turing Institute, explained: “Data science and AI technologies are advancing rapidly and evolving in unpredictable ways. The speed of these developments is making it increasingly difficult to connect the right people, ideas and data required to make progress on important national and global problems.”  

Smith continued: “In essence, our strategy aims to address this issue by encouraging collaboration and developing solutions that will speed up the transfer of skills and knowledge between sectors, while in tandem informing the public and policymakers on the issues that matter most.”

The Alan Turing Institute’s strategy first saw the light of day shortly after the Government announced a new £370 million Science and Technology Framework to fund areas such as quantum computing and AI. The Government’s designation of AI as one of the three transformational technologies recognises its fundamental role in addressing major societal challenges such as those outlined in The Alan Turing Institute’s strategy.

Forefront of capability

Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, CEO at UKRI, commented: “The Alan Turing Institute is at the forefront of our national AI capability and has helped to cement the UK’s position as a leader in the field of this transformative technology. This new investment will ensure that The Alan Turing Institute can continue to explore the frontiers of AI, working across the research and innovation system to deliver the UK’s National AI Strategy.”

The Alan Turing Institute will also build the nation’s data science and AI skills and help to drive an informed public conversation whereby everyone can debate the benefits and risks of these technologies.

Dr Jean Innes, CEO of The Alan Turing Institute, affirmed: “Our purpose is to make great leaps in data science and AI in order to change the world for the better. This £100 million investment will allow us to chart a new path over the next five years, working with our partners across the ecosystem to uncover solutions to society’s greatest challenges.”

Alongside this new investment, The Alan Turing Institute recently announced four new directors of science and innovation tasked with leading the aforementioned grand challenges.

Professor Tim Watson FBCS FIET will lead the defence and national security grand challenge, which aims to ensure data science and AI plays a part in protecting the UK and its allies from security threats.

Professor Watson joined The Alan Turing Institute back in January 2022 to take up the role of programme director for defence and security. Watson also serves as director of the Cyber Security Centre at Loughborough University.

Harbouring more than 30 years’ experience of working with Government and industry as well as in the field of academia, Professor Watson has been involved with a wide range of programmes and several high-profile projects. He has acted as a consultant for some of the largest telecoms, power and transport companies and is an advisor to various parts of the UK Government in addition to several professional and standards bodies.

Professor Watson’s research includes European Union-funded projects on combating cyber crime, Ministry of Defence research into automated defence, the insider threat and secure remote working and UKRI-funded research. The latter work concentrates on the protection of Critical National Infrastructure against cyber attack.

Professor Watson also chairs the Research Excellence Board at PETRAS (the National Centre of Excellence for IoT Systems Cyber Security).

Unlocking economic growth

Since becoming Chancellor of the Exchequer back in October 2022, Jeremy Hunt has repeatedly stated his desire to turn Britain into a science superpower and for the country to become ‘the next Silicon Valley’. He has previously announced plans to harness the power of Britain’s pension funds in order to emulate America’s success in turning inventions into commercial propositions.

Hunt fervently believes AI offers a way in which to improve Britain’s poor productivity record. Recent research has suggested the adoption of generative AI could add anything up to £3.5 trillion to the global economy each year.

Sources have suggested that the Chancellor wants to use the technological revolution to unlock economic growth and enable researchers to make new discoveries in a range of areas.

Cyber security expert Oseloka Obiora, CTO at RiverSafe, informed Security Matters: “While this extra funding is very welcome, it remains the case that the cyber risks associated with weaponised AI require urgent attention. It’s already crystal clear that accessing and manipulating AI in the form of deepfakes and ransomware attacks is a top priority for hackers, who are constantly looking to steal personal data and create havoc.”

Obiora concluded: “The Government needs to work with businesses to develop a robust action plan that will meet the main challenges head-on and protect companies from the tidal wave of incoming AI-enabled attacks.”