Peter Kyle also said he would look into the issue of visa fees for scientists, but stopped short of committing to action.
UK Science Secretary Peter Kyle said he was prioritising a cybersecurity bill as a “national security priority” and would then work on an artificial intelligence bill.
“When I became secretary of state, in a very short period of time, and I’m talking hours, not days, I realized that our country was facing a cybersecurity challenge that I simply wasn’t aware of until I became secretary of state,” Kyle said. told the Guardian today.
The new Cybersecurity and Resilience Bill was recently introduced The King’s Speechoutlining the government’s legislative plans, pushing back the much-anticipated AI bill.
Kyle added: “We are preparing the (AI) bill, we are consulting on the bill and we will have a bill ready to go. We are committed to legislating on AI.”
“Hopelessly exposed”
He told the newspaper that the country is “desperately exposed” to cyber threats and that national resilience to cyber threats and pandemics suffered “catastrophically” under the previous government.
His comment comes as the National Cybersecurity Center warned last week of the growing “scale, pace and complexity” of threats to critical national infrastructure, with the country’s ability to repel them being overwhelmed by malicious actors.
Meanwhile, another recent report, from the Covid inquiry, said the UK’s pandemic planning was marred by “fatal strategic flaws” and had not improved much since the pandemic.
“We’re not where we need to be, where we need to be as resilient as we need to be – the Covid survey highlighted that,” Kyle said. “We’re in the process of getting back on our feet, and that’s something we take very seriously.”
Kyle also raised the issue of visa fees for scientists, which some in the industry…including the new Minister of Science Patrick Vallance-to have argued that they are too high and may deter talented researchers from coming to the UK.
“I am aware of this specific challenge, but as Secretary of State, I see all the challenges and all the potential as a whole,” Kyle said. “I have to see where it fits in with all the other challenges and opportunities, and where I see a need for adjustment, I will start making representations to the relevant departments.”
