New prime minister Andy Burnham has shut down the government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and merged most of its responsibilities with the business department.
Led by former business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, the new department is called the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.
Other responsibilities of DSIT have moved to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport which sees ‘digital’ return to its name as the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport led by Lisa Nandy.
The move comes despite strong calls by many technology entrepreneurs and experts to keep DSIT. A letter sent to the new prime minister by Julian Harris, CEO at Tech UK, and Dom Hallas, executive director at Startup Coalition, said it would be “the wrong change at the wrong time” and send “a terrible signal” to the tech sector.
Matt Clifford, Keir Starmer’s AI opportunities adviser, warned it “would be a big mistake”, adding that “right now is a critical moment for tech as an economic and national security issue”.
In a move which may placate some angry tech founders, some elements of technology will still be represented in the Cabinet through Kanishka Narayan as AI minister. He said:
“AI is likely the most significant technology in human history. Its impact will dwarf other things.
“The best case for it is compelling beyond our dreams: a reindustrialised Britain, stronger national security, public services transformed for the better.
“The risks, too, are real: it is right that the British public shares those worries, for jobs, for the pace of change.
“The central fact is that it is happening. Nations have a narrow window to decide whether they shape AI or get shaped by it. Britain is in that window right now.
“While that window is still open, I will act with pace, I will act with ambition, and I will focus relentlessly on securing British influence in shaping AI.”