In 2002 Barnsley toyed with a redesign as a Tuscan hill village as it sought out a brighter post-industrial future. In 2021 it adopted the airily vague slogan “the place of possibilities”. Now it is trying a different image: Britain’s first “tech town”.
The technology secretary, Liz Kendall, has anointed the South Yorkshire community as a trailblazer for “how AI can improve everyday life” in the UK.
In the latest move in Labour’s drive to inject AI into Britain’s bloodstream, the government has announced three US tech companies – Microsoft, Google, Cisco and Adobe – have agreed to help as the council pushes to apply AI to local schools, hospitals, GPs and businesses in Barnsley, an area of South Yorkshire which has struggled with unemployment and deprivation since the coal pits closed.
The town and its 250,000 people have been chosen because they have already adopted AI faster than many places, said Sir Stephen Houghton, the Labour leader of Barnsley metropolitan borough council. His authority has been using AI assistants for the last couple of years in adult social care and children’s services, and its bin lorries have been enabled with tech to scan roads for potholes. The parcel company Evri, which has one of its largest distribution hubs in the town, has been trialling robot dogs for deliveries.
But local opposition leaders have warned rebranding Barnsley as a tech town “might seem a bit of a leap” and highlighted local anxiety about whether AI is a force for good.
The “tech town” status means residents will get free AI and digital training, businesses will be supported to adopt AI, the hospital will test AI tools for check-ins, triage and outpatient care and AI will be tested in schools and at Barnsley College, all in an effort to improve pupils’ results and teachers’ workloads.
“The economic basis of Barnsley was destroyed 30 years ago,” Houghton said. “This is the biggest opportunity we have had since then. The future of the economy is going to be in technology and for Barnsley to be at the centre of that is an incredible opportunity.”
But one area of uncertainty is the role of the tech companies. Houghton said: “The council won’t be paying them. Whether the government is, we have to wait and see.”
Microsoft already has a relationship with Barnsley College and, along with Google and Cisco, is understood to be working on a pro bono basis.
“If we are going to get AI to work for Britain, we need Britons and British public services that can work with AI,” Kendall said. “If we can show that AI helps young people learn, supports local businesses to be more productive, and improves public services, then we can show what’s possible for the whole country. What we learn here will shape how we roll out AI across the…
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