The AI and Data Challenge facing government
Government is determined to realise the potential of its data assets – applying digital and data technologies to improve services, save public funds and achieve its policy goals.
The Civil Service AI and Data Challenge draws on the workforce’s expertise, creativity and commitment to identify and pursue those opportunities, putting specialist expertise, staff time and senior support behind promising ideas submitted by civil servants from every discipline, grade and organisation.
Asking the experts
Nobody understands government systems better than the civil servants who use them every day. That’s why the Challenge is open to all staff, in every department, grade and profession. You don’t need technical skills or a detailed business case – just outline your idea in simple terms, and we’ll build teams around the best with the required contacts and capabilities.
Past winners prove that innovation can come from anywhere:
• 2024: A former prison officer whose idea on bed allocation could ease pressure on the prison estate.
• 2022: An HMRC tax compliance officer who proposed the creation of a modern slavery dashboard.
• 2021: Members of a Natural England team whose AI4Peat project is now helping restore vital ecosystems.
Supporting your ideas
Once the most promising ideas are identified, we bring together cross-departmental, interdisciplinary teams of volunteers to develop them. Each team contains people with the right skills, experience, contacts and departmental connections to carry that idea forwards, and is supported by:
- Mentors from NTT DATA: consultants and subject matter experts who provide technical advice and project support, and connect teams with specialists from NTT DATA as required.
- Sponsors: departmental chief data officers who help to test departmental support for submitted ideas, provide advice and guidance to teams, and assist when teams need help to overcome obstacles or make connections.
- Judges and Champions: senior departmental and digital leaders who provide feedback as the teams develop their ideas, and help push the best ideas through into implementation.
“The best learning opportunity I’ve taken in as long as I can remember. Because of how dynamic and fast-paced the project was, it was like condensing three years of learning into a couple of months.”
Tom Duffield
Challenge team member and head of the Business Intelligence Unit at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
1. Entries open
Civil servants from all departments, grades and professions submit their ideas for how AI and data could improve government services, and volunteer to join project teams. Entries can be written in simple, non-technical terms: what matters is the insight, not prior expertise.
2. Workshops & submissions
Organisers longlist promising ideas, and bring these ideas’ originators and relevant departmental staff together at workshops where they test feasibility, refine concepts and explore potential value. Afterwards, with the assistance of Sponsors, these nascent teams are asked to produce combined submissions – demonstrating that ideas are likely to receive the backing of key departments.
3. Team formation
Judges assess these submissions, considering them against the Judging Criteria. No more than eight projects are selected to progress within the Challenge, and organisers draw on the list of civil service volunteers to equip each team with the right blend of skills, experiences and contacts.
4. Hackathon Semi-Finals
During an initial research phase, the teams work with NTT DATA mentors and departmental Sponsors to test their ideas’ feasibility and potential value. At a pair of hackathon events, they receive technical support to create an illustrative model – presenting them to the judges, who pick four projects to move on to the Grand Finale.
5. The Grand Finale
The four finalist teams further develop their business cases and partnerships before presenting to senior leaders. Judges put questions and select the overall winner: the Finale is both a celebration of innovation, and a decisive competition.
6. Towards delivery
The winning team secures £50,000 of development support from NTT DATA and our partners, plus the backing of Champions, Judges and Sponsors. Other strong finalists may also gain further support. The aim is always the same: to help civil servants’ strongest ideas move into real-world implementation.
Innovative and exemplary in their use of AI and/or data technologies.
Deliverable, with likely obstacles considered and addressed.
Likely to improve the experience of public service users or the tools used by civil servants.
Likely to generate a high return on investment, with the resources required for delivery substantially smaller than the gains in efficiency and effectiveness.
Replicable/scalable, with potential applications across government.
Aligned with the Artificial Intelligence Playbook for the UK Government and its standards governing responsible data use.
Likely to aid progress towards one or more of the government’s five missions on economic growth, clean energy, safer streets, wider opportunities and better healthcare.
Director – Chief Data and AI Officer, Digital Transformation and Digital Business Partnering, Deputy CIO, Ministry of Defence
Chief Data Architect, Department for Business and Trade
Head of Data Strategy and Transformation, Home Office
Head of Data Science Hub and Head of Data Science Practice, Department for Work and Pensions
Director of Functional Integration, Ministry of Defence
Deputy Director and Head of Profession/Chief Statistician for Statistics , Ministry of Justice
Group Chief Digital and Information Officer, Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, United Kingdom
Chief Data Officer and Director, Data Growth and Operations, Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom
Deputy Director, Enterprise Data, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
Chief Data Officer, 
Heather Wheeler MP was appointed as a Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office, in addition to her current role as an Assistant Government Whip, on 8 February 2022.
Matthew is the CEO for NHSX, a joint unit between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England, set up to ensure that staff and patients have the technology they need.
Chief Digital and Information Officer, HMRC
Chief Executive NHS Digital
Chief Executive, Central Digital and Data Office
Chief Analyst, 10 Downing Street
Head of Public Sector, NTT DATA UK
Chief Data Officer, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Deputy National Statistician and Director General for Data Capability, ONS
Head of the Policy Profession & Permanent Secretary, Defra
Head of the Operational Delivery Profession & Permanent Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions
Minister, Cabinet Office