Programme managers triage the ideas, which are then reviewed by our network of data leader Sponsors – who consult with colleagues, and identify the most promising for further development at a workshop.

Where several people submit closely related or very similar ideas, we may work with relevant Sponsors to organise a joint workshop – bringing all those people together with specialists from relevant departments, with the aim of identifying a single strong idea that can be submitted to the Judging Panel.

In parts of government where we lack Sponsor coverage, we will seek the support of Judges and other government contacts to assess submitted ideas, including the most promising in relevant workshops.

Workshops are designed both to test and to build departmental support for an idea: you’ll be invited to discuss your idea with civil servants who have relevant expertise and responsibilities, with the aim of agreeing a shared proposal. NTT DATA subject matter experts and technical professionals will facilitate the conversation and provide advice, and civil service digital and data professionals will help you to hone your idea.

After the workshop, you’ll have at least two weeks to produce a submission to the Judging Panel, carrying the names of all those who support the idea. This should ideally be created jointly by the nascent team established at the workshop: judges will be looking for ideas that have won the support of relevant departmental staff.

On 21 April, the Judging Panel will review all these submissions, selecting eight ideas to progress to the Semi-Finals. The organising team will then contact the eight who submitted those ideas, and assemble teams around each idea with the required mix of skills, experience and connections. The eight Semi-Finalist ideas will be announced on 5 May.

Not reaching the later stages doesn’t necessarily mean the end of an idea. Some of the ideas workshopped last year are being taken forward by departments, even where the Judging Panel did not select them for the Semi-Finals. In these cases, simply bringing the idea to the attention of relevant departmental staff, and providing it with exposure to our Sponsors and Judging Panel, provided enough momentum and evidence of value for the department to pick up the idea and run with it.

Once the eight ideas have been selected, the programme team builds interdisciplinary, cross-departmental teams around them, drawing on people who volunteered through the application process and matching skills and experience to each idea.

A wide range. Challenge teams are deliberately interdisciplinary, and useful contributions can come from staff working in operational delivery, policy, analysis, DDAT, project delivery and many other backgrounds. Tell us about your skills, experience and interests when you apply.

The peak period for team formation falls at the end of April, but people’s circumstances change and some team members may have to leave the programme before its conclusion in July. In these circumstances, we sometimes contact volunteers to ask if they wish to join a team for the latter stages of the Challenge.

Certainly: you’re welcome to bring in public servants with suitable skills and experience. And team members don’t need to be central government employees: many ideas are best developed by teams including people from the wider public sector (see Q3 above).

Having said that, the Challenge aims to provide experience of working in an interdisciplinary, cross-departmental team, and organisers can bring in people with relevant connections and skills; you should expect to work with people who’ve volunteered to join the programme as well as those you’ve nominated.

Absolutely. Cross-departmental collaboration is an important part of the Challenge, and teams bring together civil servants from different organisations and professions.

The person who submitted the idea is central to the team, but they should not automatically assume a leadership role. All those participating are volunteers, and teams prove most effective where decisions are taken in a collegiate manner: idea originators typically have topical expertise and frontline experience that’s enormously valuable in taking their ideas forwards – but equally valuable are the specialist professionals and departmental experts brought into the team by programme organisers. Judges are most impressed by teams which display close collaboration, inclusiveness and shared decision-making, with no one individual dominating and the group retaining a unity of purpose and mutually supportive culture. Teams are grade-blind, with more junior staff often playing key roles, and we’ve been pleased to see many strong friendships borne out of the Challenge.

The programme has been streamlined to focus people’s effort around a relatively small number of key activities and events. The busiest periods are between the workshops and the submission deadline of 25 March, and between the Semi-Finalists announcement on 5 May and the Semi-Finals on 19-20 May. Finalists then continue work until the Grand Finale on 7 July.

You should expect to commit an average of a day a month for the period of your participation in the Challenge, plus the days of the Semi-Finals and Grand Finale themselves.

Teams receive support from senior Civil Service Sponsors and from NTT DATA facilitators and AI specialists, helping you to develop your idea, access relevant expertise and prepare for the Challenge’s key stages. Between them, they’ll provide advice and guidance on building your argument, putting together a business case and producing presentations; assistance in overcoming any obstacles and connecting with relevant people across government; and access to technical support.

No. Teams will work with AI specialists who can provide the technical expertise required. Team members contribute their own subject knowledge, experience and ideas; you don’t need to be a programmer.

The eight teams will work with AI specialists during hackathons on the mornings of 19–20 May, developing working digital models to demonstrate your ideas. In the afternoons, you’ll give a presentation explaining your idea and demonstrate what you’ve built to the Judging Panel, which will put questions to each team before selecting the four Finalists.

Workshops are organised with departmental Sponsors. Last year, some were held at departmental offices around the country, others at NTT DATA offices and events spaces in central London, and a handful online.

The Semi-Finals are likely to be held in the City of London, and the Grand Finale in Westminster.

We aim to support remote participation wherever possible, and this can normally be arranged at the workshops – though it’s worth adding that workshops tend to produce better results if people attend face to face. We ask teams to field an in-person team at the Semi-Finals and Grand Finale – though not all team members are required to attend. All other activities can be undertaken remotely.

The Civil Service AI & Data Challenge is supported by government, and participants attending workshops, the Semi-Final and the Grand Finale are encouraged to arrange any necessary travel and accommodation through their department.

If this is not possible and could present a barrier to participation, please get in touch with the Challenge team to discuss your circumstances. Requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis and will be subject to relevant approvals.

If you’re an idea originator unable to attend the workshop organised by your department’s Sponsor, we’ll seek to explore your idea at another workshop or convene a remote meeting with relevant departmental staff.

Participation in the hackathon and the Semi-Final (held on either the 19 or the 20 May, depending on your team) is a central activity in the Challenge; you should make every effort to attend, and every team will need a substantial presence on the day – though team members who can’t make it can still play useful supporting roles.

At the Grand Finale, teams will again need to field a substantial in-person presence in order to give your presentation, walk the judges through your digital solution in closed session, join the Judges and Champions on stage in the Awards Ceremony, and celebrate in the drinks reception. Again, though, participation is not compulsory for every team member.

The teams will discuss their ideas with NTT DATA AI specialists in advance of the hackathons, so that appropriate real or synthetic data can be identified and accessed or generated – sometimes with the help of departmental Sponsors.

The Challenge is designed to test and explore ideas’ viability, return on investment and likely benefits, not to build the anticipated service itself – so you will not require access to sensitive departmental information during the programme.

All ideas are judged on compliance with the Artificial Intelligence Playbook for the UK Government and its standards governing responsible data use, while organisers within NTT DATA and GGF adhere fully to data protection rules and principles around the responsible use of information and technology.

Ideas rated up to ‘official’ level can be managed within the mainstream Challenge; where the idea or required data require a higher level of security, we can work with security-cleared staff of NTT DATA and the Ministry of Defence to consider how ideas can best be taken forwards.

Initially, submitted ideas are owned by the government body employing the individual submitting the idea. Where they result in a submission to the Judging Panel, these are owned by the employer of the Civil Service Sponsor who supported the development of that submission. Ideas are not owned by the private sector partners involved in the Challenge, and cannot be developed by them without approval from the government partners.

No. NTT DATA provides AI, digital and data expertise to assist teams working within the Challenge – but where ideas are picked up by departments, any requirement for external paid support or services must go through their standard commissioning and procurement processes.

NTT DATA has its own public service mission: to use technology to accelerate client success and positively impact society through responsible innovation. This informs its commitment to environmental sustainability, to diversity, equity and inclusion, and to supporting civil society, charities and the work of public bodies. NTT DATA supports the Challenge – providing staff time, programme costs and the prize resource – in order to assist the Civil Service, both to develop the skills and capabilities of its staff, and to better harness AI and data technologies in the pursuit of public policy goals.