The key recommendations

The report contains 50 recommendations which have been accepted “in full” by the government. Key ambitions include:

• A huge, x20 increase in sovereign AI compute capabilities by 2030, unlocked through green and nuclear energy, planning changes and growth zones, delivered by a new UK Sovereign AI Unit
• Priority public sector datasets to train AI ethically and safely, with government “always in control of data and who has access”, linked with plans for the National Data Library
• Regulatory innovation to support AI development, including additional funding to boost AI capabilities and use of innovations such as AI sandboxes
• AI talent programmes, accelerated by 15 new Turing AI Pioneer Fellowships, and exploring how the immigration system and can boost international talent coming to the UK

Sovereignty as a new focus

Amidst the recommendations is a particularly welcome focus on sovereign, national AI compute access and capabilities. Through our extensive work on AI at The PSC, we know the many strengths the UK has in this field – particularly around our talent and our higher education system – and compute capability is an area in which more support is needed to keep pace globally. For economies to maximally benefit from AI, the greater the control, ownership and stake they have in the AI value chain, the greater the returns will be.

Implications for public services

UK public services have long been innovators in the use of AI. Our recent work on generative AI use cases across public services has identified 200 already actively in production. As the report indicates, the value of AI in healthcare in particular has been long proven, but the future potential is enormous. The AI Opportunities Action Plan provides a welcome strategic focus for public services to orient AI plans towards areas which will safely and ethically improve productivity and deliver growth to Britain.

The full report is available on the UK Government’s website.

To discuss how your public service organisation can contribute to this agenda and learn more of The PSC’s extensive work in this area, contact our Senior Partner for Digital, Antonio Weiss.

Antonio is a Senior Partner for Digital at The PSC, specialising in AI and digital transformation for public services, with extensive experience advising government bodies. He is the author of four books on business strategy and technology, with his upcoming book on generative AI to be published by the Financial Times in spring 2025.