The UK government is to invest £54 million to develop “trustworthy and secure” AI, and also to stimulate the UK data science workforce to be able to manage it. The investment is being made available by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the national funding agency investing in science research.
A total of £31 million will go directly to the University of Southampton, with a remit to establish “responsible and trustworthy” AI as an academic research collaboration with enterprises. The rest will be roughly split between a new scope of work to look at satellite imaging, under the header UK Geospatial Strategy 2030, and a UK-wide academic sponsorship package to fund 13 university projects around “pioneering AI innovations”.
In total, £13 million will go on the 13 uni projects; the rest is for the geospatial research. A further £50 million of government funding has been earmarked for a new Research Ventures Catalyst pilot programme to “accelerate new research ventures with industry, philanthropic organisations, and the third sector”. The announcement was made at London Tech Week (JUne 14) by Chose Smith, UK secretary of state for science and technology.
The funding is for AI to address climate change challenges and net zero targets, in particular, and also its “impact on wider society”. The geospatial research, around AI-enhanced satellite imaging and real-time data, will “unlock billions of pounds in economic benefits”, said a statement. The new fund for university AI research projects is geared towards sustainable land management, efficient CO2 capture, and resiliency against natural hazards.
The commitments follow an announcement by the UK government in March of £117 million of funding for Centres for Doctoral Training in AI, and £46 million to support Turing AI Fellowships to develop young AI talent.A statement said: “The money will drive investment and partnership with industry and further afield to fund the ideas and innovations which aren’t currently addressed in the UK research sector, and opens in the coming weeks.”
Smith said: “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.”
Dame Ottoline Leyser, chief executive at UKRI, said: “By supporting research to develop AI that is useful, trustworthy and trusted, we are laying solid foundations on which we can build new industries, products and services across a wide range of fields. Working though cross-disciplinary partnerships we will ensure that responsible innovation is integrated across all aspects of the work as it progresses.”
