Small businesses across the country will be helped to boost their productivity and efficiency through AI tools set to be trialled – from tech that predicts potholes before they form, to AI models that help farmers make their dairy cows produce greater yields. The 120 projects will receive a share of £7m in UK Government funding, enabling them to test AI tech that could give a boost to a whole range of businesses: from agriculture, to transport, to construction and more. AI is set to be the defining technology of the 21st Century. It is already boosting businesses’ productivity and overhauling public services like healthcare and education.  The government is taking action to help Britain’s businesses and job-creators embrace AI, so they can be more productive and competitive. The support announced today is focused on how AI could help smaller companies tackle pressing challenges to their businesses, and how researchers can use this tech to take on everyday problems we all live with. This backing is what the Government’s Plan for Change looks like in action, giving people the tools they need to harness the power of new technologies like AI, which will ultimately grow the economy and benefit everyone. Other projects include:

• Using AI to cut food waste – and thereby protect profit margins – at a bakery by accurately predicting sales and forecasting how much of each product needs to be made daily.
• Road-testing an AI tool that can predict potholes before they form, so roads can be repaired earlier and more cheaply, and before they cause expensive damage to vehicles.
• Trialling an AI model that anticipates where mould is likely to grow in buildings, so they can be remediated before they become a health and safety issue.

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “Putting AI to work right across the economy can help businesses cut waste, move faster and be more productive. “The huge range of projects receiving funding today, from farmers and bakers to those tackling potholes on our roads and mould in residential properties, demonstrates the truly limitless benefits of AI that are there for the taking.

“And take them we will, with our 50-point AI Opportunities Plan, published yesterday, to unleash AI across the UK, delivering a decade of national renewal and firing up our Plan for Change.”

Next week Sheffield City Councillors will discuss protecting the long-term future of the Grade I listed Sheffield Town Hall, with a view to developing a plan and identifying the right people and companies to carry it out. If the proposals are approved by the Strategy and Resources Committee next week, the next stage would involve appointing a project delivery team to progress the design work, alongside developing a comprehensive engagement plan – but commercial uses such as conversion to a hotel have already been ruled out. Committee Chairman Cllr Tom Hunt said: “The Town Hall is at the heart of Sheffield’s democracy and public life. From council meetings and elections to weddings and citizenship ceremonies, the building has a unique place in the life of our city. “We are setting out a path to ensure that the Town Hall is fully restored and refurbished so that it can continue to serve everyone in our city. This is a significant opportunity and, if proposals are approved, we look forward to working with the public and heritage organisations to undertake this important work.” The proposed restoration plan includes:

• Addressing critical building compliance and defects to enable the building to be used fully.
• Preserving and celebrating the building’s historic and cultural significance.
• Enhancing accessibility and safety for public use.
• Introducing a sustainable maintenance model to ensure the building’s long-term future.

A key aspect of the project involves developing a shared vision through robust stakeholder and community engagement, ensuring the Town Hall remains a vibrant civic hub.

UK businesses are set to be protected by new world-leading ransomware proposals to tackle the threat of cybercrime, which is estimated to cost the UK economy billions of pounds every year. Aiming to strike at the heart of the cybercriminal business model and protect UK businesses by deterring threats, proposals include banning all public sector bodies and critical national infrastructure, including the NHS, local councils, and schools, from making ransomware payments, in order to make them unattractive targets for criminals. This is an expansion of the current ban on payments by government departments. This is in addition to making it mandatory to report ransomware incidents, to boost intelligence available to law enforcement and help them disrupt more incidents. The proposals will help the government deliver on its Plan for Change by protecting the public services and infrastructure people rely on from disruption and huge costs. Security Minister Dan Jarvis said: “With an estimated $1 billion flowing to ransomware criminals globally in 2023, it is vital we act to protect national security as a key foundation upon which this government’s Plan for Change is built. “These proposals help us meet the scale of the ransomware threat, hitting these criminal networks in their wallets and cutting off the key financial pipeline they rely upon to operate.” Ransomware is malicious software which infects a victim’s computer and demands a ransom from them in order to give them back access to their system, for their data to be restored, and often for the hackers not to publish the victim’s data on the web. Carried out largely by Russian affiliated criminal gangs, ransomware attacks continue to pose the most immediate and disruptive threat to the UK’s critical national infrastructure, according to the National Cyber Security Centre’s Annual Review last year. They also cause more disruption and pose a greater risk than other cybercrimes.

The Competition and Markets Authority has launched its first strategic market statusdesignation investigation under the new digital markets competition regime which came into force on New Year’s Day. The investigation will assess Google’s position in search and search advertising services and how this impacts businesses and consumers including advertisers, news publishers, and rival search engines. Google’s services have generated significant benefits in the UK. Its search services are a gateway through which millions of people and businesses access and navigate the internet. In the UK, Google accounts for more than 90% of all general search queries, and more than 200,000 UK advertisers use Google’s search advertising. Search is vital for economic growth. It facilitates businesses connecting with each other, with investors, and with their customers. And it generates a wealth of data that can be used to develop new AI products and services to foster innovation. The CMA says that given the importance of search as a key digital service for businesses and the economy, it is critical that competition works well. Effective competition ensures people benefit from greater choice, new and innovative services, and have control over their data. Search services are also important as a route to access the news. Effective competition could help ensure that people can access a wide range of content and that publishers are treated fairly for the use of their content. For businesses, effective competition could keep down the costs of search advertising, equivalent to nearly £500 per household per year, in turn lowering prices across the economy. An effective, competitive market could also allow businesses to innovate in a way which creates alternatives to traditional search services, including by, for example, ensuring that new AI start-ups can compete with Google and other existing players on an equal footing. Under the digital markets competition regime, the CMA may designate firms with SMS in relation to a particular digital activity. Once designated, the CMA can impose conduct requirements or propose pro-competition interventions to achieve positive outcomes for UK consumers and businesses. Sarah Cardell, Chief Executive of the CMA, said: “Millions of people and businesses across the UK rely on Google’s search and advertising services – with 90 per cent of searches happening on their platform and more than 200,000 UK businesses advertising there. That’s why it’s so important to ensure these services are delivering good outcomes for people and businesses and that there is a level playing field, especially as AI has the potential to transform search services.

“It’s our job to ensure people get the full benefit of choice and innovation in search services and get a fair deal – for example in how their data is collected and stored. And for businesses, whether you are a rival search engine, an advertiser or a news organisation, we want to ensure there is a level playing field for all businesses, large and small, to succeed.”