UK government invests £32m in AI innovation to transform public services and boost productivity
The UK government has announced a £32 million investment in AI innovations aimed at reducing train delays, speeding up NHS prescription deliveries and training construction workers.
In total, 98 projects have been awarded a share of the funding, supporting 200 businesses and research organisations across the UK, with the aim of improving productivity and delivering outstanding improvements to public services.
The projects span the UK and the funding is part of the UKRI Technology Missions Fund and the Innovate UK BridgeAI programme, underlining the government’s commitment to positioning AI at the forefront of productivity improvements.
Minister for Digital Government and AI, Feryal Clark, said: “AI will bring real change to workers across the UK, not only growing our economy but also improving our public services.
That’s why our support for initiatives like this will be so crucial: supporting a range of projects that could reduce train delays, give us new ways to maintain our vital infrastructure, and improve the patient experience by making it easier for them to get their prescriptions.
We want technology to drive growth and bring change at every level, and I am confident that projects like these will help us achieve this ambition.”
Michael Thornton, Director of Public Services at Investigo, commented: “Investment in public services is essential to drive efficiency and economic growth, whether it’s AI, policy or people. We’ve seen the beginning of AI’s dominance in automating private sector processes, so it’s time to see similar investment in the public sector to improve areas such as planning and data analytics to deliver better public services.”
“Much of the public sector’s work is done on a project basis, such as the 98 funded projects. It is therefore important that government prioritises investment in staff with specialist AI skills, while training and upskilling existing staff to ensure smooth implementation. Taking a smart approach to interim staffing rather than consulting can enable departments to streamline skills across their teams for each project, simplifying service delivery while reducing costs.”
The funding announced today will specifically support solutions in “high growth” sectors, ensuring AI is at the heart of improving productivity and efficiency in key areas of the economy.
