On Tuesday, London’s Palace of Westminster, the grand gothic building overlooking the Thames that housed the United Kingdom Parliament, played host to a contrastingly modern event, an intimate panel discussion exploring how emerging technologies can drive public sector reform.
Nestled in one of the House of Lords Committee rooms, the ‘London Blockchain Summit’ event brought together tech industry players, enthusiasts and policymakers to hear a timely discussion titled: ‘More than just AI: The Role of Emerging Technology in Public Service Reform.’
The storied halls of the House of Lords have been graced by some notable figures in their time, such as Lord Rutherford, known as the father of nuclear physics; renowned physicist and engineer Lord Kelvin, best known for developing the absolute temperature scale (Kelvin scale); and Lord Bowden, whose 1953 book “Faster than Thought: A Symposium on Digital Computing Machines” was one of the first major works to highlight the potential of computers.
These Lords past, great inventors and innovators all, were also lawmakers and public servants, by virtue of their seats in the UK’s Upper House of Parliament. Fitting then, that the halls they once walked would now play host to a discussion on how the latest innovations can benefit public services.
The two-hour event kicked off with insights from a diverse panel of high-level policymakers and industry experts, namely keynote speaker Lord Carwyn Jones, the former First Minister of Wales; Marcus Foster, Head of Policy Campaigns at Startup Coalition; Claire Cummings, Founder and CEO of The Centre for Digital Assets and Democracy Limited; Rory Daniels, senior programme manager at industry trade association Tech UK; and independent blockchain specialist Owen Vaughan.
The speakers variously dissected how cutting-edge technologies can hold the key to solving systemic inefficiencies in the UK’s aging public services. This was then followed by questions from the exclusive group of 70 attendees and a general discussion, chaired by business consultant and former Member of Parliament and Secretary of State Alun Cairns.
Some of the key questions raised during the evening included: What are the practical challenges of delivering public sector reform? Which public sector departments and processes could emerging tech help and transform? And which government institutions, if any, are currently using blockchain technology?
The candid discussion covered substantial ground, but several overriding themes emerged, not least the value emerging tech could provide to the UK’s ailing National Health Service (NHS), the current issues with government procurement, and the importance of education across all of these areas.
First on the agenda for the panel was a critique of the current state of affairs within public services, and the slow pace of tech reform in the UK.
Problems facing UK public services
It became clear early on in the discussion that there would be little disagreement from attendees and speakers with regards the nature of the problem at hand.
Specifically, a lack of investment in emerging technologies in the UK, where an estimated quarter of public services are using outdated technology. It has also been estimated that this reliance on archaic tech, and the loss in efficiency associated with it, amounts to the UK missing out on savings of £45 billion annually.
These damning stats demonstrate the scale of the problem, and why such events as Tuesday’s panel discussion are needed.
Thus, two of the first major questions of the evening were: What departments are currently using emerging tech such as AI and Blockchain? And what departments could be using them?
In terms of the former, the general consensus from assembled policymakers and industry figures was that, outside of pilot programs, very few if any public service departments are broadly applying such technologies.
As a side note, it was also pointed out that there is a distinct lack of data and transparency with regards to the current pilot programs being explored in the UK. Pilots are looking at a lot of good solutions in the public sector, but they aren’t being broadly applied and often don’t make it out of pilot stage, with helpful data on the relative successes and failures of such pilots being lost in the process.
When it came to the latter question of where tech could be applied, the levels of optimism in the room noticeably picked up.
Much discussion time was spent on the usual suspects, the NHS and immigration services, both of which are crying out for tech-driven reform. But the Police Force was also mentioned as an institution where AI and blockchain, if applied responsibly and transparently, could provide immense value and savings to taxpayers.
One attendee made the point that the UK police force is one of the world’s largest holders of bitcoin, due to confiscated funds, and if only they were willing to engage and use it, this could provide a major win for the public sector and public coffers.
Another attendee posited the Department of Environment as a potential beneficiary of emerging tech. Understanding the ‘cradle to grave’ of a product, can be massively helpful in working out an asset’s carbon footprint. This is an area where Blockchain could be invaluable, through its ability to provide that immutable record of an asset’s entire lifespan.
There was also general agreement that novel approaches to dealing with data—particularly in areas of storage, privacy, and transparency—had to be a part of any public service reform.
These were all areas identified as fertile ground for emerging tech. However, part of the problem is that public sector reform happens slowly, and there was general agreement throughout the discussion that Government needs to be more agile in its thinking.
Another issue is procurement, which, it was noted, also takes too long in the UK. This is a particular problem for startups, who often don’t have the leeway of large multinationals when it comes to costly delays.
Despite these roadblocks to progress, the overall tenor of the discussion was optimistic, and much time was occupied on the benefits that emerging tech can offer, as well as where they would be most welcome.
In this regard, no area was of more pressing concern than the NHS.
The NHS
Of all the sectors under discussion—as is often the case when discussing public services in the UK—it was clear the NHS was the most emotive issue, and perhaps the area that held the most promise in terms of the potential benefits to efficiency, cost saving and ultimately patient care, which all would agree is of utmost importance.
According to the Government, AI is already being used in hospitals up and down the country to deliver better, faster, and smarter care: spotting pain levels for people who can’t speak, diagnosing breast cancer quicker, and getting people discharged sooner.
However, a repeated refrain throughout Tuesday’s event was the added value blockchain could provide to the NHS, not least in the area of patient records. For example, giving patients control of their records and data, and providing the NHS with an immutable, traceable and transparent record keeping system – one that, if integrated correctly across the vast NHS, could streamline the process of information sharing.
However, actually implementing such technology to lubricate the rusty cogs of the NHS is another matter. The vast, complex and outdated mechanisms of the NHS make it simultaneous an institution that would most benefit from tech-powered reform, and one where such reform would be most costly, time consuming and labour intensive to achieve.
Despite this, it’s not unachievable, and Tuesday’s discussion settled on three necessary conditions to make this happen: a comprehensive, data-backed cost-benefit analysis; a strong government willing to act on that analysis; and increased education, for both the general public and government, on the technologies themselves.
In this vein, Labour’s ‘mission driven’ approach came in for praise, specifically, the way it has set about the task of adopting Max Clifford’s ‘AI action plan’.
AI Turbocharging the UK
In January, Max Clifford—the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology—published his AI Opportunities Action Plan, in which he set out 50 recommendations for government to grow the UK’s AI sector, drive adoption of AI across the economy, and improve products and services.
This comprehensive guideline was taken up by the Labour administration, which announced, on January 12, its plan to “mainlines AI into the veins of this enterprising nation,” with the publication of its “blueprint to turbocharge AI” – a plan for mass adoption and application of AI technology across the UK public sector.
The UK government was unequivocal in its language when announcing the plan, saying “Artificial intelligence will be unleashed across the UK to deliver a decade of national renewal.”
It’s this kind of language that encourages panels such as that hosted in the House of Lords on Tuesday.
During the discussion Max Clifford’s recommended approach to AI adoption was pointed to as a benchmark and blueprint for how blockchain technology could also be incorporated into public sector processes.
Blockchain a focus for reform
In keeping with the panel’s headline, “More than just AI,” perhaps a greater portion of the discussion was taken up on another key emerging tech, blockchain, and what it can offer public services.
One speaker touched on the distinction between Bitcoin, stablecoins and central bank digital currency (CBDC), as well as how they can similarly be utilized to deliver increased efficiencies in a range of sectors, not least the public sector.
Another talking point was how, aside from making payments, blockchain is extremely valuable as a record of payments – one which can’t be altered. Due to blockchain’s immutable ledgers, it can show complete datasets, without hiding anything. This could be invaluable in the public sector to prove an institution, or department has acted honestly and within regulation.
Similarly, the UK land registry was highlighted as another are where blockchain could provide value, particularly in streamlining the currently archaic and painful property transaction process.
However, several speakers and attendees argued that, before blockchain can be broadly adopted in the public sector, Government must destigmatize the technology.
Time has moved on from the early days of the dark web and crypto wild west, and all the negative connotations that came with it. While ‘crypto’ is still very much in vogue—thanks in no small part to the favour of U.S. President Donald Trump—enterprise blockchain, i.e. blockchain focused on utility over a simple store of monetary value, is not about get-rich-quick schemes, rug-pulls and ponzis. Rather, it’s about how the technology can be used to facilitate, amongst other things, improved and more efficient systems, new ways of working, and increased control over data.
It’s perhaps no surprise then that increased tech education emerged as another key theme of the evening.
Education is key
Getting rid of outdated technology, paper-based systems, and systems that don’t talk to each other, is clearly the way to achieve progress and save money. But in order to do this, first, understanding and knowledge of the technology must be improved.
This is not just to encourage more people to get involved in the tech innovation sector, it is also a necessary first step to the general public and politicians accepting the changes for which public services are crying out.
The argument was made during the discussion that Government simply doesn’t know how to talk about certain emerging technology, particularly blockchain, digital asset, smart contracts and Web3.
Thus, on Tuesday, a consensus emerged that government and private sector will have to work together to educate people, “so that you can take them with you.”
The hope being that misconceptions and misunderstanding can be corrected, and in a decade’s time technologies such as blockchain—which when explained at length can cause people’s eyes to involuntarily glaze over—become second nature.
Wine in the war room
After the panel discussion the evening moved to a more informal networking event at the Churchill War Rooms, and a rare opportunity to enjoy one of London’s top tourist attractions after hours, with a glass of wine in hand – which is not normally permitted but very much in the spirit of Churchill.
As one speaker pointed out, this was also a symbolically apt location to round off the event.
WW2, while a globally devastating conflict, was the catalyst for huge technological advancement, not least in the areas of computing, manufacturing and medicine. So, what better backdrop than Churchill’s war rooms for the exchanging of ideas and solutions on the current period of rapid technological advancement in which we find ourselves; this time spurred on not by global conflict but by the huge potential of innovative and emerging technologies such as AI and blockchain.
Overall, the main theme to emerge from the evening’s exploration of emerging tech and public services was that there is no shortage of use cases and no shortage of solutions, but equally no shortage of problems.
What is needed is clarity of thought and leadership to steer a way through and drive the change that’s so clearly necessary to bring reform for the UK’s aging and unwieldy public services.
The House of Lords panel and Churchill War Rooms networking soiree aimed to play its part in creating this sure-handed leadership, whilst leaving speakers and attendees with much to digest (not just salmon canapés).
Guests departed with food for thought on the crucial issues of public service reform and what role AI and Blockchain must play therein.
As a parting challenge, all attendees were encouraged to keep the energy and innovative thinking rolling on these key issues, and to reconvene at the London Blockchain Conference main event in October. There, hopefully the motivation for tech-driven public sector reform can reach fever pitch, and that strong leadership for change can be fostered.
Learn more and register here: London Blockchain Conference – Government & Public Sector
