Technology and Innovation
Thursday, 10 September 2026
Contributions
Gordon McKee (Glasgow South) (Lab)Labour
16. What steps she is taking to use technology to support innovation across Government.
Emily Darlington (Milton Keynes Central) (Lab)Labour
20. What steps she is taking to use technology to support innovation across Government.
The Minister for Artificial Intelligence (Kanishka Narayan)Labour
It is my core belief that technology should not be the preserve of the privileged few; instead, it should be a great leveller, supporting dignity in our public services and opportunity for British businesses. That is why I am focused on redesigning the way that Government use AI and technology to support our brilliant public service professionals to achieve those ends.
I thank the Minister for his answer. The pace of innovation has never been faster, which means that the value lost by slow procurement processes has never been higher. We need the Government and Departments to be able to buy in the most advanced software and technologies without lengthy delay. Can the Minister say what work he is doing to enable Departments to do that?
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend; there is only one thing faster than the pace of technology, and that is the pace at which he keeps up with technology, and, in particular, online engagement. I will flag two areas of particular focus for my efforts on this question: first, ensuring that we are creating examples of swift procurement support for British businesses, not least through the sovereign AI research and development procurement scheme; secondly, a more systematic focus on bringing the best package of AI tools to support procurement professionals to move faster.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)Conservative
I call Emily Darlington—not here.
Source: UK Parliament Hansard API. Debate ID: 5404658.