- DSIT startup board meets for first time, with representatives
from across the science and tech world in attendance
- High profile appointees bring a wealth of experience and
expertise to policy-making
- Group discuss how DSIT can help the UK lead on AI both at
home and abroad, and be the most innovative department in
government
The UK’s best and brightest science and technology minds,
including former astronaut Tim Peake and McLaren founder Ron
Dennis, met today at the inaugural Department for Science,
Innovation and Technology (DSIT) startup board meeting, helping
to shape the future of government policy and achieve the
department’s goal of making the UK a science and technology
superpower by 2030.
Meeting for the first time as a group since being appointed in
April, members discussed a variety of topics, with the
combined experience and expertise in the room offering a unique
opportunity for officials and ministers to understand how best
the Government can support industry.
Further developing the Government’s regulatory policy on AI was
high on the agenda, with the startup board discussing how the
department can play an integral role in the Prime Minister’s
ambition for the UK to lead on AI policy both at home and abroad,
and how the Government can deploy revolutionary AI technologies
in more sectors to improve productivity and unlock growth,
including in our public services.
Members of the startup board also shared ideas on how the
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology can be the most
innovative department in government, looking to emulate the
boldness and daring ambition that is seen in the science and
technology sectors that the board’s members are part of.
Finally on the agenda in today’s meeting was an exploration into
how the department can make better use of analysis and insight to
improve the impact it has on both the general public and the
science and technology ecosystems in the UK.
The 7 inaugural non-executive members of the DSIT startup board
are:
- Shonnel Malani – Managing Partner at Advent International and
Chair of the Board at Cobham and Ultra Electronics
- Tim Peake CMG – former European Space Agency astronaut and
British Army Air Corps Helicopter Pilot
- Ron Dennis CBE – Founding Shareholder and former
Chairman and CEO of the McLaren Technology Group Ltd,
Chairman of Podium Analytics
- Baroness CBE – Professor at
King’s College London, cross-bench House of Lords Peer and
former government expert adviser on skills
- Melissa Di Donato – former CEO of SUSE Software
Solutions, iNED at JPMorgan Chase, Supervisory Board
member of Porsche AG, Senior Advisor at Hg Capital
- Saul Klein – co-founder and Managing Partner of Phoenix
Court, home to LocalGlobe and Latitude, as well as co-founder of
Seedcamp and ZINC
- Professor Jason Chin FRS – Fellow in Natural
Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge, and Head, Centre for
Chemical and Synthetic Biology at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular
Biology
As non-executive Board members, the group aim to provide
over-arching strategic guidance and insight to the department as
it looks to drive economic growth, create jobs, and improve the
lives of every Briton by boosting the UK’s mission for science,
innovation and technology.
