On 6 March the Future of Compute Review panel published its report as part of the launch of the UK Government’s Science and Technology Framework.
This independent review is a culmination of work that was launched during London Tech Week in 2022 to explore the UK’s compute needs over the next decade and provides recommendations to Government. The Review panel was chaired by Zoubin Ghahramani FRS, Professor, University of Cambridge and Vice President of Research, Google. techUK’s Director of Tech and Innovation, Sue Daley sat on the panel.
The report outlines the significance of compute to the UK, the current international landscape, where demand for compute is right now, and makes a number of recommendations for meeting the UK’s compute needs. The review also focuses on the need to build a wider compute ecosystem in the UK that includes the role of technologies such as cloud computing, while supporting other emerging technologies such as AI and Quantum.
With recommendations covering themes including unlocking the world-leading, high-growth potential of UK compute, building world-class, sustainable compute capabilities, and empowering the compute community, the far reaching and ambitious review seeks to re-centre compute at the heart of the UK’s technology and innovation ambitions. This is not an easy ambition: Whilst the EU, USA, China, and Japan are all pushing forward with exascale systems, the UK’s share of global LSC capacity has decreased by three-fifths over five years, falling to 2.0% in 2019.
As such, this techUK event seeks to explore the Review in more depth and place it within the UK’s wider technology and innovation ambitions set out by Government in the Science and Technology Framework and Spring Budget. It will explore how the compute ecosystem in the UK can reposition itself as key infrastructure through the review recommendations, while also exploring why certain recommendations such as building skills and mitigating a software gap are both critical – and yet could face the danger of being ignored.
With speakers from across industry this event will underscore the UK tech sector perspectives on compute. In particular we will address:
- The long road to recognition: From the Government for Science Report on Compute to the Future of Compute Review – has compute infrastructure been recentred at the heart of the UK’s tech and innovation ambitions?
- How does the review expect the UK compute ecosystem to evolve over the next decade?
- How do the recommendations prepare for the next generation of compute users and their access needs? What is the role of cloud?
- industry perspectives on what investment into exascale and an AI resource look like?
- How could the UK develop a strong software and skills base for the future of compute?
- From HPC, AI, quantum and cloud, how are these technologies converging, and how do we encourage this convergence through recent Government Reports?
Speakers include:
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Zoubin Ghahramani, VP, Research, Google & Professor of Information Engineering, University of Cambridge. Lead Reviewer for the Future of Compute Review
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Bea Longworth, Government Affairs EMEA, NVIDIA
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Andy Brookes, Chief Technology Officer, Faculty AI
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Stuart Wilson, Director, Global HPC Strategic Sales, Eviden ( an Atos company)
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Christopher Marsh-Bourdon, Vice President, Global Financial Markets, Oracle
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Tom Rodden, Chief Scientific Adviser, Department for Science Innovation and Technology
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Oliver Grant, Senior Digital Scientist, Future of Compute Review Secretariat
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Sue Daley, Director, tech& Innovation, techUK and reviewer Future of Compute Review
techUK was pleased to provide input to the Future of Compute Review and see Government announce plans to invest £900 million to establish a new AI Research Resource and to develop an exascale supercomputer, with initial investments starting this year. These investments will provide scientists with access to vital computing power and bring a significant uplift in computing capacity to the AI community.
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Rory Daniels
Rory joined techUK in June 2023 after three years in the Civil Service on its Fast Stream leadership development programme.
Tess Buckley
A digital ethicist and musician, Tess holds a MA in AI and Philosophy, specialising in ableism in biotechnologies. Their professional journey includes working as an AI Ethics Analyst with a dataset on corporate digital responsibility, followed by supporting the development of a specialised model for sustainability disclosure requests. Currently at techUK as programme manager in digital ethics and AI safety, Tess focuses on demystifying and operationalising ethics through assurance mechanisms and standards. Their primary research interests encompass AI music systems, AI fluency, and technology created by and for differently abled individuals. Their overarching goal is to apply philosophical principles to make emerging technologies both explainable and ethical.
Laura Foster
Laura is techUK’s Associate Director for Technology and Innovation.
Sue Daley OBE
Sue leads techUK's Technology and Innovation work.
Elis Thomas
Elis joined techUK in December 2023 as a Programme Manager for Tech and Innovation, focusing on Semiconductors and Digital ID.
Usman Ikhlaq
Usman joined techUK in January 2024 as Programme Manager for Artificial Intelligence.
Harriet Allen
