Extract from Lords oral
question on Personal Data
(Con): My Lords, I
commend to my noble friend the work of Genomics England and the
100,000 Genomes Project, where 100,000 people are willingly and
enthusiastically giving their consent to the use of their data
because of extremely well-designed guidelines on how that data
will be treated. Is this not an example of how, if we get these
things right, as set out in the ad hoc Select Committee on
Artificial Intelligence report published yesterday, the UK can
show the world how to proceed in this matter?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department
for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Lord Ashton of Hyde)
(Con): My noble friend makes a good point. I have not
read the report yet, of course—it has been out only a day—but I
know that it makes the point that data is essential if we are to
ensure adequate competition. Data itself is of the greatest use
and we have world-beating companies able to take advantage of it.
We have to balance the protection of individuals’ data with the
use that can be made of it. That is one reason why we are setting
up the centre for data ethics and innovation—to look at exactly
those points.
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Extract from Treasury
Questions (Topical) (Commons)
(South Basildon and East
Thurrock) (Con): Automation, machine learning and
Artificial Intelligence have the potential to offer huge
productivity gains. What discussions has my right hon. Friend had
with colleagues across Government about providing leadership in
this important field so that we can reap the maximum productivity
boost and be at the forefront of this exciting technology?
The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr Philip
Hammond): As I have said many times in this House, we
have two choices: we can either run away from this challenge; or
we can run towards it and embrace it. In fact, if we want to
maintain the living standards of our people and the status of our
economy in the future, we have no choice but to embrace it—and we
are doing so. I announced at the autumn Budget funding to support
the uptake of digital technologies across Government, allowing
the Government to be an exemplar, but we are also promoting these
technologies to private business. The UK is at the forefront of
many of these cutting-edge technologies.
