Barnsley has been named the UK’s first Tech Town, becoming the first government backed Tech Town and a national blueprint for how Artificial Intelligence can improve everyday life. Local schools, colleges, businesses and NHS organisations will receive more bespoke government support to unleash Artificial Intelligence opportunities, with the aim of delivering improved public services, better support in local schools, quicker NHS care and new opportunities for jobs and skills. The designation is positioned as one of the most important investments in Barnsley’s history and is intended to help secure the town’s long-term economic future.
For the next 18 months, the government will be working closely with local business leaders, educators, NHS workers and other partners to build local talent who can access the jobs of the future and make local services fit for the Artificial Intelligence era. As part of this work there will be a partnership with Barnsley Hospital to test Artificial Intelligence tools that offer quicker check-ins, faster triage and smoother outpatient care. These tools are expected to provide a better service and free up NHS workers to focus on other tasks, supporting the wider ambition to create safer, smarter public services and new opportunities for residents and businesses.
Science and technology secretary Liz Kendall said that if the country is going to get Artificial Intelligence to work for Britain, then Britons and British public services must be able to work with Artificial Intelligence, highlighting Barnsley’s role in showing how technology can help young people learn, support local businesses to be more productive, and improve public services across the UK. Barnsley council leader Sir Stephen Houghton CBE framed the Tech Town programme as where cutting-edge technology meets everyday usefulness, complementing existing plans at The Seam Digital Campus, including the National Centre for Digital Technologies and the Health on the High Street programme. Local leaders and national officials will work together to shape the programme so Barnsley can thrive in the emerging and fast-paced Artificial Intelligence landscape, blazing a trail for the rest of the country to follow.
