Thursday 24 March 2022

BEIS invests £30m in data science

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has spent £30 million in the last five years to increase the number of data scientists it employs.

It has revealed this has led to a 408% increase in the amount spent on this sector since 2017, taking BEIS data employees from 146 to 619.

Data-based roles are considered crucial to maximising efficiency and understanding the best ways to improve and become more sustainable.

BEIS has also stated that an increase in data staff was paramount to working through the COVID-19 pandemic and will now be critical in the recovery period.

Neil Parker, General Manager of Laiye, said: “It’s encouraging to see BEIS investing heavily in analytics, particularly at a time when government departments are crying out for innovation following the strain and disruption caused by the global pandemic.

“However, boosting headcounts in this core area should be part of a much wider strategy for the public sector, which has yet to full embrace the true capabilities of AI and intelligent automation technologies.”