Legacy IT Systems Could Jeopardize UK AI Plans

Outdated IT systems and poor data-sharing practices between public offices could undermine the U.K. government’s plans to deploy artificial intelligence capabilities to increase public sector efficiencies, a parliamentary committee said.

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In January, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced an “AI Opportunities Action Plan” that seeks to scale up the U.K.’s AI capabilities and push the technology across public offices. As part of the plan, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology unveiled the generative AI suite called “Humphrey,” which will be deployed across government offices (see: British Prime Minister Starmer Unveils New AI Plan)./p>

An analysis by the U.K. Parliament’s Committee of Public Accounts found the rampant use of legacy systems, poor data quality and weak data sharing practices could put the proposed AI plans at risk.

“We remain concerned at the scale of the challenge, government capacity to tackle the problem and the significant risk this represents to successful adoption of AI across the public sector,” the committee said.

The committee said U.K. public offices have been slow to resolve the issues, with departments only resolving 21 “red-rated” or highest risk systems despite a proposed deadline of 2025 under the Digital and Data Roadmap 2022–25, the government’s digital transformation plan.

With the government’s slow progress in fixing its legacy systems and due to a lack of “quick fixes” to address the problem, the committee added that the government’s AI plan could be further delayed.

A recent report by the National Audit Office found that as of last March, governmental departments reported relying on at least 228 legacy systems. Auditors found 62% of the 87 government bodies also reported access to good quality data as a barrier to implementing AI (see: Critical UK Government Systems at High Risk, Warn Auditors).

The parliament committee advised the government to prioritize funding for replacing high-risk legacy systems, as well as addressing risks that are posing a barrier to effective data sharing to promote AI adoption within the U.K. public sector.