The government’s public sector financial accounts came under fire this week when the National Audit Office refused to sign them off. The watchdog said it was impossible to sign off the public spending figures because of the unreliability of financial data relating to hundreds of councils and police and fire authorities. Only 10 percent of England’s 426 local authorities submitted reliable data for the 2022-23 financial year. Gaps include missing data on £134bn of property, plant and equipment, £105bn worth of public sector pension liabilities and £26bn of staff costs. English local authorities have been hit hardest as devolved governments in Wales and Scotland have their own state-run auditors. In England, the state-run Audit Commission was abolished in 2015, leaving councils to appoint private firms.
In the US, Google is coming under increasing pressure as the Justice Department and a group of state attorneys general move to require the tech firm to sell off its Chrome browser, and to abandon business practices that keep devices reliant on its search engine. This follows an August ruling that Google’s share of search traffic (77% on desktop, 96% on mobile) represents an illegal monopoly. It was revealed in proceedings that Google pays Apple $18 billion per year, in addition to 36% of search-ad revenue generated in the browser, to be the default search engine in the Safari browser. A similar deal exists with Mozilla Firefox, while Reddit has an exclusive tie-in making the site’s content only indexable with Google. The measures aim to rule out these practices, a move Google called an ‘extreme proposal’.
Reports emerged this week that the government is failing to list the use of AI across departments on its mandatory register. In February, the government announced the AI register would be a requirement for all government departments. So far, no Whitehall departments have registered the use of AI, despite it already being used in areas including benefit payments, immigration enforcement and facial recognition software. With the Post Office scandal still fresh in the memory, experts have warned that IT systems don’t always work as intended, and the same could be the case for AI if adopted uncritically. Where can we get help with AI and transparency? Well, as you’re asking, our Data Ethics Professionals course contains a whole module on Transparency and Explainability in Data. You can sign up via the ODI site while civil servants can enroll via Government Campus. And of course ODI Members get a 15% discount.
Governments worldwide play a pivotal role in shaping the AI ecosystem through instruments such as legislation, funding, and international collaboration. However, our recent research reveals significant disparities in how countries emphasise data within their AI policies, potentially worsening the global data divide. So this week, we launched the Global AI Policy Data Observatory to assist policymakers and policy researchers who are interested in a data-centric approach to AI governance. And if you want to learn more about AI in safety critical systems in areas such as healthcare and other public services, join us for a conversation between Professor Chris Johnson, Chief Scientific Adviser in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology ( DSIT ) and our Director of Research, Professor Elena Simperl, on Tuesday 10th December 16:00-17:00 GMT.
And finally, when does the festive season actually start? Well, according to customer data from B&Q, it was last Tuesday 26th November. This week saw a spike in Christmas tree purchases on its website, with another wave expected over the weekend, which is the first Sunday of advent, the traditional time for decking the halls. Ho ho ho or humbug? You decide…
Until next time…
David and the Comms team
