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Alan Turing Institute

This article is about the UK national institute for the data sciences. For the institute based in Glasgow 1983–1994, see Turing Institute.

The Alan Turing Institute is the United Kingdom's national institute for data science and artificial intelligence, founded in 2015 and largely funded by the UK government. It is named after Alan Turing,[1] the British mathematician and computing pioneer.

The Alan Turing Institute
Founded2015; 9 years ago (2015)
FounderUK Government
TypeResearch institute
Registration no.England and Wales: 09512457
FocusData sciences
Location
Membership
CEO
Jean Innes
Websitewww.turing.ac.uk Edit this at Wikidata

Governance

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The Alan Turing Institute is an independent private-sector legal entity, operating not-for-profit and as a charity.[2] It is a joint venture among the University of Cambridge, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Oxford, University College London (UCL) and the University of Warwick, selected on the basis of international peer review.[3] In 2018, the institute was joined by eight additional university partners: Queen Mary University of London, University of Leeds, University of Manchester, University of Newcastle, University of Southampton, University of Birmingham, University of Exeter and University of Bristol.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the primary funder of the institute, is also a member of the joint venture. The primary responsibility for establishing the Alan Turing Institute has been assigned to the EPSRC, with continuing engagement in the shaping of the institute from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Government Office for Science. The Chair, Doug Gurr, was appointed in 2022, and the CEO, Jean Innes, in 2023. Between 2018 and 2023, the Director and CEO was Sir Adrian Smith. The inaugural Director from 2015 was Andrew Blake (scientist).[4]

Funding

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Funding for the creation of the institute came from a £600m investment for the "Eight Great Technologies",[5] and specifically so-called "big data", signalled by the UK Government in 2013[6] and announced by George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the 2014 budget.[7] The bulk of the investment in "big data" was directed to computational infrastructure. Of the remainder, £42m was allocated to the institute to cover the first five years of its operation.[7] The five founder universities each contributed £5m to the institute.[8] Further funding has come primarily through grants from Research Councils, university partners and from strategic and other partnerships.[9]

In June 2021, the EPSRC awarded the institute £10 million, on behalf of UK Research and Innovation, for 2021/22.[10]

The government's 2024 Spring Budget provided a further £100m, spread over five years, directed towards applying data science and artificial intelligence to healthcare, protecting the environment and bolstering national defence.[11] Soon after, a review by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council recommended improvements in financial oversight of funding for the institute.[12]

Location

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The institute is named in honour of Alan Turing,[1] often considered the father of Computer Science

Concurrently with the selection of founder universities, the EPSRC initiated a process to find a "location partner". The resulting selection of the British Library in London was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in December 2014 during the launch of the Knowledge Quarter, a partnership of organisations in and around the King's Cross area of the capital.[13]

As of 2023, the Alan Turing Institute is housed within the current British Library building, but it is anticipated it will occupy new premises in a development planned on land between the Francis Crick Institute and library.[14] In February 2023 the plans for the new building were approved by the local council.[15]

Background

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The Alan Turing Institute was founded following a letter from the Council for Science and Technology (CST) to the UK prime minister (7 June 2013), describing the "Age of Algorithms". The letter presented a case that "The Government, working with the universities and industry, should create a National Centre to promote advanced research and translational work in algorithms and the application of data science".

The Alan Turing Institute fits into a complex organisational landscape that includes the Open Data Institute, the Digital Catapult and infrastructure investments. The role of the institute is to provide the expertise and fundamental research into data science and artificial intelligence needed to solve real-world problems.[9]

The Alan Turing Institute has since 2021 run an annual event called AI UK,[16] which is described as a national showcase of data science and artificial intelligence.

The organisation's intranet is called Mathison, which was Alan Turing's middle name.

History

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In 2015 Lloyd's Register Foundation became the institute's first strategic partner, providing a grant of £10 million over five years to support research into the engineering applications of big data.[8][17][18]

In March 2023, the Turing Institute announced a new strategy, dubbed "Turing 2.0".[19] Following the release of the strategy, an all-male team of four senior academics was hired to deliver on the new strategy, leading to a letter signed by 180 staff members to express serious concerns about the institute's approach to diversity and inclusion.[20]

In October 2024, the Institute started a redundancy consultation process, affecting around 140 of the 440 staff members.[21]

In December 2024, 93 employees of the Alan Turing Institute sent a letter to the board of the institute to expresses no confidence in the body's executive leadership and asked the board to intervene.[22] In addition to concerns about gender diversity and the redundancy round, the letter mentions the institute's sense of direction as issues. Furthermore, it outlines how a lack of accountability and transparency, as well as poor decision making by the executive, are leading to a catastrophic decline in trust in leadership and rising levels of stress and burnout across employees. Reportedly, an internal review by the institute mirrors these conclusions.[23]

Notable people

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References

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  1. ^ a b Newman, M. H. A. (1955). "Alan Mathison Turing. 1912–1954". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 1: 253–226. doi:10.1098/rsbm.1955.0019. JSTOR 769256.
  2. ^ "The Alan Turing Institute, registered charity no. 1162533". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  3. ^ "Business Secretary Cable announces partners in the Alan Turing Institute". Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Leadership – The Alan Turing Institute". Turing.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  5. ^ "Eight great technologies: infographics". Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  6. ^ "'Eight great technologies' benefit from £600m in government funding". The Guardian. UK. 25 January 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Alan Turing Institute to be set up". BBC News. 19 March 2014.
  8. ^ a b "Alan Turing Institute operations begin". The University of Edinburgh. 28 March 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  9. ^ a b "About us". The Alan Turing Institute. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  10. ^ "The Alan Turing Institute has secured £10 million new funding from EPSRC, on behalf of UKRI". The Alan Turing Institute. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
  11. ^ Elliott, Larry (4 March 2024). "Britain's AI sector expected to get £100m extra funding in budget". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  12. ^ Kay-McClean, Liam (26 April 2024). "Reforms needed at The Alan Turing Institute, finds review". Research Live. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  13. ^ Davies, Caroline (4 December 2014). "Alan Turing Institute for Data Science to be based at British Library". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  14. ^ Spocchia, Gino (26 January 2023). "RSHP's contentious British Library expansion plans set for approval". The Architects’ Journal. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  15. ^ "British Library's 12-Storey Extension Gets The Go-Ahead". Londonist. 1 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  16. ^ "The Alan Turing Institute – AI UK".
  17. ^ "The Lloyd's Register Foundation becomes The Alan Turing Institute's first Strategic Partner". The Alan Turing Institute. 4 August 2015. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  18. ^ McKenna, Brian (15 December 2014). "Lloyd's Register Foundation grants £10m to Alan Turing Institute | Computer Weekly". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  19. ^ "Alan Turing Institute unveils strategy to support UK AI | Computer Weekly". ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  20. ^ Milmo, Dan (11 March 2024). "Staff at Alan Turing Institute speak out after four men given top roles". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  21. ^ Milmo, Dan (17 October 2024). "UK's Alan Turing Institute launches redundancy consultation process". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  22. ^ Milmo, Dan (11 December 2024). "Redundancies would put Alan Turing Institute at risk, staff say". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  23. ^ "Staff at Britain's AI institute in open revolt". POLITICO. 11 December 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  24. ^ "Jean Innes appointed to lead The Alan Turing Institute | The Alan Turing Institute".
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