This blog post was written by George Woodhams, AI Policy and Programmes Manager at the Imperial Policy Forum.
Last week, the Imperial Policy Forum hosted a two-day hackathon organised by 10 Downing Street’s Data Science team. Building on the success of previous hacks focused on clean tech and generative AI, this year’s hackathon was open to registrations from the public for the first time.
Over a hundred and fifty technologists, researchers and civil servants worked in multidisciplinary teams to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing the UK. Examples of the challenges teams set out to tackle included missed GP appointments, costing the NHS millions and increasing waiting lists and early years education gaps that shape children’s long-term opportunities.
With input and advice from AI industry partners and data science experts from across the public sector, teams used a range capabilities and data sets to develop novel technological solutions at pace.
Imperial were delighted to welcome Jade Leung, the Prime Minister’s recently appointed AI Advisor and Josh Simons, Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, to judge the solutions developed by a shortlisted group of six teams.
The judges were particularly impressed by three teams, who will now have an opportunity to present their solutions to wider stakeholders in No 10. The solutions developed by these teams, included:
- An online chatbot and voice-over-IP tool to triage primary care patients
- A data dashboard for national decision makers to view local insights of social cohesion
- A platform to streamline housebuilding by providing an overview of building and regulatory requirements
The event demonstrated the potential for open collaboration to push the boundaries of how AI can be used for public good. The Forum looks forward to hearing more about how these exciting proposals develop as we continue to support government’s AI adoption journey through our AI Fundamentals and AI Policy Fellowship programme.