On November 6 2024 at the Financial Times Future of AI Summit, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s (DSIT) Secretary of State, Peter Kyle, announced the publication of two new Responsible Technology Adoption Unit (RTA) products - The ‘Assuring a Responsible Future for AI’ report and a public consultation on their AI Management Essentials (AIME) Tool.

The ‘Assuring a Responsible Future for AI’ report, which assesses the current state of the UK AI assurance market, identifies opportunities for future growth, and sets out the targeted interventions government is taking to drive the future growth of this market. The AI assurance market already employs more than 12,000 people and generates more than £1 billion GVA, and could grow six-fold in the next decade to over £6.5 billion GVA if market barriers are addressed. To realise this potential, DSIT will drive demand for AI assurance goods and services by developing an AI Governance Essentials toolkit, improve quality supply of AI assurance by working with industry to develop a ‘Roadmap to trusted third-party AI assurance’, and support the international interoperability of the AI assurance regime by developing a Terminology Tool for Responsible AI.

AIME is a self-assessment tool which supports businesses to follow responsible AI practices in their organisations, and the first product for our AI assurance platform. The DSIT want to make sure it’s a straightforward, easy to access tool, which provides simple and clear terms on what is required of businesses to ensure the development and use of AI systems is safe and responsible. The DSIT have launched a public consultation on the tool that will be open for 12 weeks. By contributing to this consultation it could help public sector organisations make better and more informed decisions on purchasing AI systems.