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AI, green energy, and reforming the apprenticeship levy were some of the key points in the King’s speech, which sets out the agenda for the legislation changes that the Labour government will introduce during the next Parliament.

In addition, there were Bills regarding boosting cyber security resilience, establishing Digital Verification Services, and Smart Data. Claire Penketh, BCS Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager, gets the reactions from our BCS experts.

A reported fully-fledged AI Bill was not announced during the State Opening of Parliament, but the King’s Speech set out how the government would “seek to establish the appropriate legislation to place requirements on those working to develop the most powerful artificial intelligence models”.

Adam Leon Smith, a BCS Fellow, and AI expert said:

“We look forward to seeing more detail about the government’s proposals around AI. Most IT experts’ concerns are not that AI is too powerful but that essential guardrails are not in place. There must be high professional standards to ensure AI is directed and developed by individuals who adhere to agreed measures of competence and ethics. We advise against focusing too narrowly on a handful of companies.

“By setting high standards within our profession, the UK can lead the way in responsible computing and be an example for the world. Many wrongly believe AI will turn out like The Terminator rather than being a trusted guide and friend. We need to build public confidence in harnessing its incredible potential whilst being aware of its challenges.”

Renewable Energy and Data Centres

It was announced that Great British Energy is to be set up, a publicly owned clean power company headquartered in Scotland. One of its chief aims is to ‘help accelerate investment in renewable energy such as offshore wind.’ In addition, there will be proposed legislation to ‘help the country achieve energy independence and unlock investment in energy infrastructure.’

John Booth from the BCS Green IT specialist group said it was vitally important that the sustainable planning and development of data centres and improvements to energy distribution were top government priorities.

“The setting up of Great British Energy is an important first step towards addressing the urgency of climate change, and it might bring some much-needed focus on decarbonisation, resilience and self-sufficiency for energy.

“But whilst accelerating investment in renewable energy is a good thing, the issue of data centres and the need to improve the grid and distribution networks must also be top of the government’s priorities.

“Data centres consume large amounts of power, and data centre growth and the exponential increase in power and cooling demand for AI is going to put pressure on grid capacity and natural resources.

“GB Energy needs to think about smart grids and a range of innovations that can store renewable power so it can be released to meet peaks of demand.”

Apprenticeships – new body set up and levy reforms announced

As a leading end-point assessor of digital apprenticeships, BCS took particular interest in the announcements about plans to reform the apprenticeship levy and establish Skills England. Annette Allmark, Director of Learning and Development at BCS, said:

“The setting up of Skills England is a welcome move as it could streamline a system which can be hard to navigate for employers and potential apprentices.

We also hope it will foster greater collaboration between the government and all apprenticeship stakeholders, including industry, training and assessment organisations and apprentices. This will further build on the successes of digital apprenticeships in meeting the upward demand for technical skills.

“The apprenticeship levy should be protected while also reforming those aspects that are not working. For instance, we recommend giving greater support to SMEs by ensuring the current underspend is invested into engaging more small businesses to benefit from apprenticeships. Moving forward we must be mindful of preserving the positive outcomes achieved by the levy.”

Just before the election, BCS commissioned a report, The Future of Digital Apprenticeships, which has more information about our thoughts on the levy, and the need for more support SMEs.

Cyber security

Other Bills that are due to be introduced by the government but weren’t mentioned in the King’s Speech include a response to the ever-increasing risk of cyber attacks.

The new Labour Government said it would introduce the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, giving regulators greater power to push more firms to implement better cybersecurity defences.

It said the Bill would expand the remit of existing regulation, put regulators on a stronger footing, and increase the reporting requirements placed on businesses to help build a better picture of cyber threats to the UK.

Steve Sands, Chair of the BCS Information Security specialist group said:

“Strong cyber capability is essential to underpinning all aspects of technology and IT, which is necessary to deliver critical services to the nation and its citizens.

“We hope the government’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill will focus on raising standards and governance in the private sector for cyber-security. As many government services rely on partnerships between the public and private sector firms, this is sometimes the weak link when it comes to cyberattacks and that needs to be addressed.”

ID verification

It would be joined by a new Digital Information and Smart Data Bill, enabling new, “innovative” uses of data to help boost the economy.

The government said that under the new legislation, digital verification services would be established, which would include digital identity products to help the public quickly and securely share key information about themselves as they use online services in their everyday lives.

In addition, it will create a new data preservation process that will enable coroners to get access to online information about a child when investigating their death, meaning tech firms could be forced to hand over social media profile data.

BCS Policy and communications team will continue to work with members to ensure we understand and help shape these proposals with a focus on professionalism, ethics and accountability.