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The UK government wants to give £20 million to startups that can solve traffic jams

The money will be overseen by a new 'GovTech Catalyst' team.

  • The funding will be overseen by a new "GovTech Catalyst" team.
  • Money will be given to companies working on issues in areas like healthcare and education.
  • It could be used to fund research from companies like Google DeepMind.

Chancellor Phillip Hammond announced on Wednesday that the UK Government has ringfenced £20 million to help public services "take advantage" of expertise in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI).

Hospitals and schools will be able to tap into the funding and use it to pay AI companies and other firms for access to their staff and their resources.

It will specifically be used to fund private sector research and development on technologies that could help to solve public sector issues such as traffic jams, teacher availability, and NHS patient experiences. When a final product is ready, public sector bodies can then choose whether they want to buy it.

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The £20 million fund will be operated by a new GovTech Catalyst team, which will work with public sector bodies and help them to identify areas where they can use tech developed by the private sector technology.

The government said in an announcement that the GovTech Catalyst team will also act as a "front door" for tech firms that want to work with public sector organisations.

Announcing the fund, Chancellor Philip Hammond said in a statement:

One tech firm that has started working closely with the government on healthcare matters is Google DeepMind, which has signed a number of partnerships with NHS trusts across the country. This work is largely being done for free at the moment but DeepMind hopes to start charging government after it has proven that its technology is benefitting the health service.

The funding — available from 2018-19 to 2020-21 — was announced alongside several other measures that are designed to stimulate and support the growth of the UK tech sector, including a £21 million investment in government quango Tech City UK, which is being rebranded to Tech Nation.

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Prime Minister Theresa May will meet with UK tech entrepreneurs and innovators on Wednesday to find out how the government can work better with them. She said in a statement:

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