Alan Turing Institute (ATI) has begun a significant organizational transformation that will position it to address major defense and national security challenges.
In July Peter Kyleduring his tenure as Secretary of State at the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Technology, wrote to Alan Turing Institute Chairman Douglas Gurrcalling on the institution to change its strategic focus. In the letter, Kyle said: “ATI's current non-military activities need to be refocused to support this renewed focus and strengthen the UK's sovereign capabilities in artificial intelligence.”
Kyle wanted the Alan Turing Institute to focus on cutting-edge research in artificial intelligence (AI) that could not or would not be carried out by industry or individual universities.
He also called on ATI to make a tangible impact in supporting government missions and foster interdisciplinary collaboration and ecosystem building. Overall, Kyle wanted ATI to develop a coherent program of work that would advance government defense, national security, and sovereign ambitions.
Two months after receiving the letter, in September, Jean Innes resigned as director general of the Alan Turing Institute. She said at the time: “It has been a great privilege to lead the UK's National Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, implement a new strategy and oversee significant organizational change. With this work completed and a new chapter for the Institute beginning, the time is right for new leadership and I am excited about what it will achieve.”
In response to government calls for the creation of the Alan Turing Institute to meet growing national needs, the institute's board commissioned former RAF Commodore Blythe Crawford to examine how the institute could best support the scale of the government's artificial intelligence ambitions across defence, national security and intelligence.
A transformation is now underway, resulting in a new research and innovation program that has seen the Alan Turing Institute streamline its strategic focus and significantly reduce the number of research programs. This resulted in the closure, spin-off, or termination of 78 research projects that were not aligned with the institute's new strategic direction.
Ahead of Blyth's recommendations to the board, due to be presented in November, the Alan Turing Institute said it would lead a new mission to develop tools to protect the UK's critical national infrastructure (such as energy, transport and utilities) from cyber-attacks.
The Alan Turing Institute also plans to deepen existing partnerships with the national security and defense communities nationally and internationally to create a strategic advantage in AIin areas such as AI security, defensive sensing and strategic threat assessment. His existing work in this area includes the Department of Defense Artificial Intelligence Research Center, the Artificial Intelligence Research Center for Cyber Defense, and the Center for Emerging Technologies and Security.
Mark Girolami, Chief Research Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute, said: “Digital, data and artificial intelligence technologies have huge transformative potential, and our goal as a national institute is to ensure they are implemented in ways that change our country for the better; in the hands of our public servants and critical industries, shaping better decisions, increasing productivity and growing our economy.”
“Our Science and Innovation program is designed to build on the UK's strengths, developing the specialist capabilities that will make our society safer, healthier and more resilient.”
