Department for Science, Innovation & Technology

While the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has policy responsibility for protecting intellectual property (IP), IP crime and infringement, including online piracy, is a serious, cross-cutting issue that affects many sectors. Tackling this issue requires a co-ordinated approach which is why DSIT works closely with the Home Office, HM Treasury, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, as well as others across government to tackle online piracy

The UK Government recognises the challenges that digital piracy creates for intellectual property (IP) owners, creators and businesses. We work closely with law enforcement partners, rights holders, consumers, and industry to understand where and how this is taking place.

The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has conducted research into the scale of digital piracy, and IP infringement more broadly across multiple sectors. For example, two IPO consumer surveys published in 2025 demonstrated that digital piracy continues to be a challenge in the UK. In 2024, 29% of UK residents aged 12+ (around 17.2 million) had recently accessed online content that infringed IP rights. This activity can have a negative impact on businesses. These impacts include, but are not limited to, lost sales and the costs related to monitoring and enforcement.

This information is used, along with other data we collect on online infringement (e.g., use of counterfeit goods) to help design measures that can affect consumer behaviour and provide cost-effective, targeted enforcement procedures.

The Resilience Action Plan sets out the Government’s strategic approach to how we will strengthen our domestic resilience and invest to protect the nation. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology officials regularly attend meetings to discuss the implementation of the Resilience Action Plan as well as matters of national security and defence.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology is actively contributing to this work.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has not issued specific guidance on this topic and directs all social media users to the guidance on using social media safely available online from the National Cyber Security Centre.

The UK Government has signed AI-related Memorandums of Understanding with OpenAI, Google DeepMind, NVIDIA, Cohere and Anthropic. All of these firms have significant office presence or headquarters in the UK, and many are expanding here. For example, in February 2025 OpenAI announced it is significantly expanding its presence in London, establishing the city as its largest research hub outside the United States. Google DeepMind is also opening its first automated research lab in the UK this year.

To ensure UK-based AI firms have equitable access to government procurement, DSIT has developed an AI Commercial Strategy. This provides a clear model for sourcing AI solutions, enabling government teams to select the most effective route for each need, while using mechanisms that encourage experimentation and support UK SMEs and startups.

Our Incubator for AI is also working across government to explore how AI can transform public services. Starting with planning and education, these projects combine political backing, government AI engineering capability, the agility of DSIT's commercial innovation hub, and departmental expertise to bring frontier AI into government and redesign services around citizens' needs.

The government continues to explore the feasibility of technical solutions for the labelling of AI-generated content to support transparency, such as through the Deepfake Detection Challenge.

AI is a general-purpose technology with a wide range of applications, which is why the government believes that most AI systems should be regulated at the point of use. In response to the AI Action Plan, the government committed to work with regulators to boost their capabilities. The government has been clear that we will legislate where needed, but we will do so on the basis of evidence where any serious gaps are.

Building Digital UK publishes data providing premises-level information on the premises included in Project Gigabit contracts every four months. Approximately 5,600 premises in the Caerfyrddin constituency are currently included in the scope of Project Gigabit contracts being delivered by Openreach. These contracts are expected to complete by 2030.

On 13 March, we also launched the gigabit broadband availability checker on GOV.UK, which allows residents and businesses in England and Wales to see whether gigabit-capable broadband is available at, or planned for, their address, including through Project Gigabit.

While this data provides transparency on which premises are included in subsidised plans, Project Gigabit suppliers are responsible for determining local delivery schedules. Communities are therefore encouraged to register their details with suppliers to receive the latest updates as build progresses.

Since January 2025, the Government has united digital, data, and AI teams into one centre to tackle identified systemic blockers to transformation. Government has also launched the GOV.UK app, the digital HM Armed Forces Veteran Card, and 13.2 million people have now proven their identity using the single sign-on system OneLogin.

In January 2026, the Government published ‘A Roadmap for Modern Digital Government’, its plan to make government more user-focused, efficient and resilient to deliver better outcomes for the public and the economy. It provides a public-facing, whole-of-government commitment to digital transformation and holds departments accountable for progress, updates on which will be regularly published.

The Life Sciences Sector Plan, published in July 2025, launched a ten year programme to cement the UK’s position as a global life sciences leader. The Secretary of State is in regular contact with Cabinet colleagues, and we have strengthened the Office for Life Sciences as a trilateral unit across DSIT, DHSC and DBT, bringing together health, industrial strategy and innovation, and appointed an Executive Chair, Steve Bates, to provide leadership and accountability.

This collaborative approach is delivering, with the UK securing multibillion pound private investment, building new research infrastructure, scaling manufacturing, streamlining regulation, strengthening clinical trials and driving medical breakthroughs.

The UK is committed to attracting international postgraduate research (PGR) students as part of our ambition to attract the best research talent across the research pipeline. International PGRs make significant contributions to the UK’s research strength and scientific output. In 2024/25, 42% of the UK’s 120,000 postgraduate research students were non‑UK; 58% in Engineering and Technology; and 79% in research‑intensive universities, where scientific output is highest (HESA). International PGRs contribute to the over two hundred thousand research articles from the UK each year, placing the UK globally in first position on Field Weighted Citation Impact among comparator countries since 2007 (GOV.UK).

ADSL relies on the copper based Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The PSTN is increasingly unreliable and prone to failure. In 2024/25 there were over 2,600 major incidents on the PSTN, each affecting 500 or more customers. This is why industry have taken the decision to upgrade to fibre-based Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

VoIP technology is more resilient, more secure, enables better quality phone calls, and can be used to block scam calls. Fibre cables are less prone to damage during severe weather events, have a 50% lower fault rate than copper, and are more energy efficient. Fibre based digital infrastructure offers customers significantly faster speeds than copper-based ADSL.

International collaboration is vital to ensure the UK can unlock AI’s full potential.

The UK has sought to be a global leader in AI, developing our bilateral and multilateral partnerships to ensure effective collaboration towards safe, secure and responsible AI, and deliver on the AI Opportunities Action Plan.

We work bilaterally to advance UK interests and support economic growth, ranging from bilateral AI and compute partnerships with countries including Canada, France and the Netherlands, funding UK involvement in the multilateral EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and signing the U.S.-UK Technology Prosperity Deal in September 2025. We are also leading contributors to multilateral fora, including the AI Summit series initiated by the UK at Bletchley Park in November 2023. The most recent summit took place in India, and the Deputy Prime Minister led the UK delegation. The UK is secretariat to the International AI Safety Report – the world’s first comprehensive synthesis of evidence on advanced AI risks and capabilities, which is an important foundation for international collaboration. We are also shaping the global conversation on AI at the UN, OECD, G7 and G20.

The Government recognises the significant role that digital and information technologies play in driving productivity growth across the UK economy. OECD analysis indicates that widespread AI adoption could raise UK productivity by 0.4–1.3 percentage points annually, potentially adding £55–140 billion in GVA by 2030.

The Government is committed to realising these benefits, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Shaheen Sayed, Chief Commercial Officer at Accenture has been appointed as the Professional Business Services (PBS) AI Champion. She will serve as a strategic link between industry and government, with a key objective to encourage PBS SMEs to adopt AI and digital technologies as a key enabler to growth and improved productivity. We are also working directly with industry on our ambitious commitment to upskill 10 million workers with essential AI skills for work through our AI Skills Boost programme.

The government will publish a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems by 18 March. This report will consider the policy options set out in the government’s consultation on copyright and AI, set out the evidence and views we have gathered and outline our next steps.

The government has engaged bilaterally with many jurisdictions, such as the EU and the US, to discuss approaches to copyright and AI policy, share best practice and consider technical issues.

The government continues to seek views on how best to meet the UK’s objectives on AI and copyright, from stakeholders and experts, including through the technical working groups and Parliamentary working groups.

The government will publish a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems by 18 March. This will set out the evidence and views we have gathered and outline our next steps.

DSIT’s office attendance (Hybrid Working) policy allows some flexibility for minimum office attendance to reflect the capacity of the office estate. As such DSIT requires employees to spend between a minimum of 40% and 60% of their weekly working hours in the office or other official work location, and with Senior Civil Servants and Fast Stream employees expected to do so at the upper end of this range.

All organisations providing services in the UK must comply with the UK’s data protection legislation, which is enforced independently of Government by the Information Commissioner.

The government will publish a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems by 18 March. This report will consider the policy options set out in the government’s consultation on copyright and AI, set out the evidence and views we have gathered and outline our next steps in areas such as transparency.

The government will publish an economic impact assessment by 18 March, as per Section 135 of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025.

This will assess the impact of each of the policy options described in the consultation on copyright and AI, on copyright owners, and persons who develop or use AI systems.

The government will publish a report on the use of copyright works in the development of AI systems by 18 March. The report will consider the policy options set out in the government’s consultation on copyright and AI, set out the evidence and views we gathered and outline our next steps.

The Government’s ambition is for all populated areas of the UK to have access to higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. Our ambition goes further than just the largest towns and cities and includes many rural areas across the UK. Delivery of this ambition is commercially led by the three mobile network operators (MNOs).

The network operators have committed significant investment which aligns with Government’s ambition and we are working with MNOs to ensure that this investment translates into benefits for communities right across the UK.

Significant progress has already been made with Ofcom reporting in their Connected Nations Report 2025 that standalone 5G is now available outside of 83% of premises across the UK, but we know there is more to do in some areas.

Government is undertaking a Mobile Market Review to assess the impact of technological, structural and financial market developments on investment in comprehensive high-quality mobile connectivity across the UK.

In parallel we are working to identify and address barriers to deployment of mobile infrastructure. This includes publishing a call for evidence to help determine where planning rules could be relaxed to support the deployment of mobile infrastructure, which closed on 26, February. We are now reviewing the evidence gathered which will inform our next steps.

The Government’s ambition is for all populated areas of the UK to have access to higher quality standalone 5G by 2030, and we are committed to working with industry to support the rollout of standalone 5G across the UK.

The Government is undertaking a Mobile Market Review to assess the impact of technological, structural and financial market developments on investment in comprehensive high-quality mobile connectivity. On 10 February 2026, Government published a Call for Evidence to support this assessment, and all stakeholders are encouraged to engage in this process ahead of it closing on 21 April 2026.

As part of the Call for Evidence, we are asking for detailed evidence on how the Government should think about, and define, ‘good’ mobile coverage in relation to the quality of service provided to consumers, businesses and the public sector. We are also looking to understand if there is evidence to suggest that the Government’s standalone 5G coverage ambition should go further.

Our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. As part of the Government’s Mobile Market Review Call for Evidence, launched on 10 February 2026, we are asking for detailed evidence on how government should think about, and define, ‘good’ mobile coverage in relation to the quality of service provided to consumers, businesses and the public sector.

In the 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy (June 2025), the Government committed to work with Ofcom and other regulators to assess the telecommunications needs of the transport sector, including rail networks, by December 2026. My officials are undertaking this assessment alongside the Department for Transport, the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, and Ofcom, the regulator for telecommunications.

The Department for Transport has secured funding to introduce low-Earth-orbit satellite connectivity on all mainline trains, which will significantly improve both the availability and internet data connection speeds for Wi-Fi connected passengers.

My officials are also working with Ofcom to improve the evidence base on mobile connectivity across the rail network, as recommended by the Public Accounts Committee.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology recognises the importance of supporting women working in the UK science, technology, engineering and mathematic sectors.

In December 2025, DSIT launched the Women in Tech Taskforce to address the systemic barriers that prevent women from entering, progressing, and leading in the tech sector. In March 2026 DSIT launched a package to get more women into tech, including 300 paid tech placements and support for those returning after a career break. DSIT also announced a TechFirst Girls Competitition and the Women in Tech Taskforce launched a call for evidence on building a more diverse tech sector.

This is on top of major programmes that DSIT supports such as the £187 million TechFirst initiative to support entry into the sector, the CyberFirst Girls annual tech competition, and Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation programme.

Alongside this, DSIT and UKRI are working to improve retention and career outcomes for women in research. On 11^th March, DSIT Secretary of State called on research institutions and funders to do more to support women in research and back a voluntary charter to raise standards and drive culture change. The charter, which will be shaped with employers and funders of researchers, will set a firm expectation that all PhD funders commit to meeting or exceeding UK Research and Innovation’s parental leave offer for doctoral students. It will also agree clear, tangible commitments on other issues like support for those returning to work with caring responsibilities, greater job flexibility and addressing sexual discrimination and harassment.

DSIT have also doubled the government’s support for the Daphne Jackson Trust, who support researchers who have taken a career break, to £4m per year.

Physics education is the responsibility of the Department for Education.

The government recognises the importance of research, including physics, to economic growth and its contribution to the UK’s innovation capacity and industrial strategy.

This academic year, two thirds of the £1.3bn Strategic Priorities Grant to HE is to support the provision of high-cost subjects, including physics. From this, the Office for Students allocates £1,737 per student FTE to providers for physics students.

42% of UK Research and Innovation funded PhDs in 2024/25 were through the Science and Technology Facilities Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. UKRI will invest over £2bn in doctoral training this spending review period.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology has not made a specific assessment of the potential economic impact of expanding the Boulby Underground Laboratory to host the XLZD experiment on the economies of Yorkshire or the North East.

The Department recognises the role of Boulby Underground Laboratory as the UK’s deep underground science facility, and the contribution it makes to the local area. STFC have invested over £30 million in the laboratory and the research taking place there over the last ten years alone.

All investments are based on an analysis of scientific and economic impact, as well as wider portfolio balance. Broader UKRI investment decisions will be announced in due course.

Officials from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology regularly attend meetings to discuss matters of national security, defence and resilience as well as the associated public communications required to deliver these lines of efforts. The conversation on National Defence was a recommendation in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which the Government accepted. The Ministry of Defence is the lead department for delivering the SDR, with support from the Cabinet Office, and particularly from the National Security Secretariat.

As set out in the Strategic Defence Review, the national conversation will be a multi-year, cross-departmental effort designed to deliver on the whole-of-society approach to national security and defence allowing Government, the private sector and public to play their part in strengthening the UK’s resilience to any potential future shocks. This work addresses the risks and threats the UK faces, including those below and above the threshold of an armed attack.

DSIT is actively supporting this work.

The Government recognises the importance of a secure and resilient cloud infrastructure for the delivery of digital public services. As set out in the Roadmap for Modern Digital Government (2026), the government is developing a National Cloud Strategy. As part of this, the government will assess how to strengthen the security and resilience of UK cloud infrastructure and improve the cloud ecosystem.

Details of central government contracts above £12,000 for procurements commenced before 24 February 2025 are published on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder).

Contracts procured under the Procurement Act 2023 above £12,000 inc VAT are published on the Central Digital Platform Find a Tender service. This includes a note of the winning supplier. (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search).

DSIT are funding an Innovation and Knowledge Centre led by the University of Southampton’s world leading silicon photonics research foundry, Cornerstone. This centre is focused on translating silicon photonics technologies from research to industry, including photonic integrated circuits that are essential for optical computing.

In parallel, the UK’s National Quantum Computing Mission aims to build scalable quantum computers. We have already announced over £1bn of funding for the quantum technologies sector – which includes over £500m specifically around the development of quantum computing of which photonic approaches are an integral part. Details of key milestones and funding programmes under this investment will be published soon.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) has committed to a record £58.5 billion investment in R&D over the next 4 years. Of this, UKRI will deliver £38.6 billion towards research and innovation with £14.5 billion allocated towards curiosity-driven research, in recognition of its fundamental importance for our future. DSIT and UKRI are also significantly increasing investment in areas underpinned by physics such as AI, quantum, semiconductors, cybersecurity and advanced connectivity technologies. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) also provides funding for physics research, and has a £1.2 billion allocation for applicant led research over the SR.

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) within UKRI is currently working with the sector to model different spending scenarios for its portfolio in particle physics, astronomy and nuclear physics (PPAN). The impacts of different modelled scenarios will be considered alongside feedback from the sector when taking final decisions. No final spending decisions have been made.

The UK also remains committed to international physics collaboration, including at CERN, where we are the second-largest contributor.

More generally, DSIT has asked UKRI to ensure that its allocation decisions, including those on individual physics programmes, are informed by meaningful consultation with the scientific research community and a robust assessment of potential consequences for the UK’s scientific capability and international standing.

The window for applications was extended to ensure that the competition attracted a strong and diverse field of candidates and to maximise the number of high‑quality applications for the role. This decision was taken in consultation with Ministers.

The Medical Research Council (MRC), which is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), supports world‑leading research to accelerate diagnosis, develop treatments and prevent disease.

Details of funding from MRC, as well as other research councils within UKRI, on specific areas is provided in the table below:

*'Rest of UKRI' spend figure for 2019/20 is unavailable. For 2024/25, ‘Rest of UKRI’ figure does not include funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC).

GOV.UK One Login is committed to making identity verification simple, inclusive and secure, enabling people to access government services while protecting them and the Government from fraud. While we expect GOV.UK One Login to become the primary method for accessing online government services, departments will continue to provide offline alternatives for those who prefer or are unable to use digital channels.

While most users successfully prove their identity, we recognise that some experience difficulties. The service is used by millions, and we continually monitor feedback, complaints and performance data to identify issues and drive improvements.

We are enhancing guidance, refining the user journey and introducing new identity verification routes to meet different user needs. Support is available through our contact centre and technical service desk for users who require assistance.

The pilot of the GOV.UK AI assistant is currently being undertaken by GDS and will be concluding soon. We will then evaluate the concept to inform future development of the concept.

At this stage, the pilot is about learning and understanding the potential value of the technology for citizens in helping them get through complex life events. We will be considering accuracy and value as part of the final reporting on this pilot.

The Competition and Markets Authority’s role is to effectively investigate, as needed, mergers and anti-competitive practices in the fixed telecoms market in order to promote competition and protect consumers to drive economic growth and improve household prosperity, and works as appropriate with Ofcom as the sector regulator in doing so.

The government is committed to delivering record R&D funding, and recognises the significant impact of innovative SME’s on the UK’s economic growth. The government delivers grant funding to innovative businesses through Innovate UK, which is a part of UK Research and Innovation.

Since 2023/24, 84% of Innovate UK’s manufacturing research and development grants awarded directly to businesses have been allocated to SMEs. If including the grants awarded to universities and other research partners collaborating with businesses, 58% of all of Innovate UK’s manufacturing research and development grants since 2023/24 have been allocated to SMEs.

All Public Appointees complete a political activity form as part of the application process. If appointees declare any political activity, the detail is reviewed, assessed for risk and appropriate mitigations implemented where necessary.

The government is committed to supporting innovative SMEs and delivers innovation funding through Innovate UK.

Since 2020/21, SMEs in Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes have received over £43 million across more than 200 Innovate UK-funded projects.

Innovate UK works with local authorities on innovation initiatives such as MK Tech Week 2025 and Innovate Local Buckinghamshire 2024. Regional Catapults, including the Satellite Applications Catapult at Westcott and the Connected Places Catapult in Milton Keynes, support SMEs to develop advanced technologies, whilst Innovate UK’s Talent & Skills Connect strengthens workforce pipelines. Innovate UK Business Growth and Innovate UK Business Connect provide embedded local support for innovative SMEs.

The ICO is dealing with an increase of over 30 percent in FOI cases submitted to them since April 2025. The ICO will continue to look at ways they can prioritise FOI casework and resources to ensure that case numbers can be adequately managed. Data on FOI complaints handling is available on the ICO’s website.

The Met Office has recently received an enquiry from the campaign and are considering an engagement plan to integrate this with their existing plans to develop the 'Thrive' theme of the Public Weather Service including tourism facing services.

The government published the independent review of data, statistics and research on 19 March 2025.

The report was made available to departments and is being considered by relevant policy teams alongside ongoing policy work in this area.

The Government recognises the importance of collecting accurate and relevant data on sex. The Government Statistical Service (GSS) Harmonisation Team within the Office for National Statistics (ONS) is continuing their work toward developing best practice harmonised standards for the topics of sex and gender identity.

The Government’s response to the AI Opportunities Action Plan outlines our regulatory approach to strengthening AI safety, security and robustness. We have accepted - and are acting on - recommendations to enhance regulatory capabilities. We have also announced a new Centre for AI Measurement to develop new AI assurance tools and strengthen the UK AI Assurance ecosystem; committed to ensuring that the AI Security Institute has the ability to deliver on its responsibilities, is trusted by others, and works well with partners; and concluded a call for evidence on the AI Growth Lab, a cross-economy AI sandbox, to inform further development, and identify priority areas for its focus.

The Regulatory Innovation Office supports the government’s pro‑innovation approach to regulation by working with businesses and regulators to cut approval times for innovation and technologies while maintaining safety and public confidence. The Regulatory Innovation Office also coordinates cross‑government action to remove regulatory barriers to growth.

Through such initiatives, the Government has taken important steps to ensure that most AI systems are already regulated at the point of use by our existing expert regulators. We are closely following how the technology develops, and where further action may be required.

The Public Weather Service (PWS) Customer Group has been working closely with the Met Office to strengthen the focus on supporting the outdoor economy, including tourism, through the Thrive theme within the PWS Customer Service Agreement. To enhance this work, the membership of the Customer Group has recently been expanded to include the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Head of Domestic Tourism.

Steps have already been taken by the Met Office to deliver a series of improvements to enhance the presentation of weather information which can support the visitor economy, with further developments planned.