Alan Turing Institute

The Alan Turing Institute is the United Kingdom national institute for the data sciences, founded in 2015. It is named after Alan Turing (1912–1954), the British mathematician and computing pioneer.

Vision and Mission

Vision: to become a world leader in data science research and innovation.

Mission: to create global impact through research, training and leadership in data science in the following areas:

• Foundational Research: We will develop the theoretical and methodological foundations that will shape this emerging field in the coming decade.
• Translational Research: We will partner to translate our foundational research outcomes into lasting scientific, economic and societal impact.
• Training the Next Generation: We will educate the next generation of data science leaders through our research and teaching, building capability and capacity.
• Leading the Public Conversation: We will convene and communicate across the global data science landscape, informing public debate and policy.

Background

The Alan Turing Institute is the indirect product of a letter from the Council for Science and Technology (CST) to the UK Prime Minister (7 June 2013), describing the “Age of Algorithms”. The letter presents a case that "The Government, working with the universities and industry, should create a National Centre to promote advanced research and translational work in algorithms and the application of data science."

Funding for the creation of the Institute comes from £600m investment for the '8 Great Technologies',^[1] and specifically so-called 'big data', signalled by the UK Government^[2] It was announced by George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer (2010-2015), in the 2014 UK Budget. The bulk of the investment in ‘big data’ has been directed to computational infrastructure. Of the remainder, £42m has been allocated to the Alan Turing Institute to cover the initial five-year period of operation. The five founder universities have each contributed ₤5m to the institute (a further ₤25m). Additional funding from industry, foundations and government bodies has already been indicated.

The Alan Turing Institute fits into a complex organisational landscape that includes the Open Data Institute, the Digital Catapult and infrastructure investments. The specific role of the Alan Turing Institute will be to provide the expertise and fundamental research into mathematics and algorithms needed to solve real world problems.

Structure

The Alan Turing Institute is formed as an independent private sector legal entity operating not-for-profit and as a charity. It is a joint venture (JV) consisting of a core group of founder universities: Cambridge, Edinburgh, Oxford, UCL and Warwick selected on the basis of international peer review.^[3] The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the primary funder of the institute, is also a member of the joint venture. The primary responsibility for establishing the Alan Turing Institute has been assigned to the EPSRC with continuing engagement in the shaping of the Institute from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and the Government Office for Science. The Chair of the Alan Turing Institute, appointed in June 2015, is Howard Covington; the Director, appointed in August 2015, is Andrew Blake.

Location

The British Library and St Pancras.

Concurrently with the selection of founder universities, the EPSRC initiated a process to find a ‘location partner’. The selected location is the British Library in London. This was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 4 December 2014 as a key part of the 'Knowledge Quarter'.^[4] The Alan Turing Institute is located within the current British Library building and it is anticipated it will occupy new premises in a development planned on land between the Francis Crick Institute and the British Library.

See also

• Alan Turing (1912–1954), British computing pioneer

References