UK and France to sign AI and data partnership

Digital secretary Matt Hancock will visit Paris today to announce a package of measures to strengthen ties between the UK and France’s tech industries.

Hancock will speak at a bilateral conference on data and the digital economy alongside Mounir Mahjoubi, his French counterpart.

During his speech, Hancock is expected to comment on the UK’s ‘world-leading’ capabilities for AI and data.

The partnership between both nations will see The Alan Turing Institute sign an agreement with French Institute DATAIA to pursue collaborative research in areas of mutual interesting, including transparency, fairness and the design and implementation of algorithms.

“The UK is a digital dynamo, increasingly recognised across the world as a place where ingenuity and innovation can flourish. We are home to four in ten of Europe’s tech businesses worth more than $1 billion and London is the AI capital of Europe.

“France is also doing great work in this area, and these new partnerships show the strength and depth of our respective tech industries and are the first stage in us developing a closer working relationship. This will help us better serve our citizens and provide a boost for our digital economies,” said Hancock prior to the meeting.

Alan Wilson, CEO of The Alan Turing Institute, added: “The fundamental goal behind all our research is to build a data and AI enriched world for the benefit of all. In order to do this, it is critical to forge international collaborations and share our knowledge, expertise and ideas with other research centres around the world.

“The Institute and DATAIA both share a vision for building research in data science and AI which crosses disciplinary boundaries and recognises the societal implications of data and algorithms. It is a pleasure to kickstart this engagement and we look forward to working with them to advance UK and French excellence in this area.”

Additionally, Hancock will confirm the opening of Entrepreneur First’s new office in the French capital.

Matt Clifford, EF co-founder and CEO, commented: “EF exists to enable the world’s most ambitious people build extraordinary companies. It was founded in London, where we’ve already helped spark the development of high growth companies from scratch.

“As we continue our global expansion we’re looking forward to working with France’s future founders and strengthening the ties between business and investors in both countries,” Clifford concluded.