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Innovation and Technology: Small Businesses

Asked by Jim ShannonDemocratic Unionist PartyDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled Answered 17 June 2026UIN 7392

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what support is available for small and medium-sized enterprises adopting technological innovations.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan

This Government is committed to making the UK the leading adopter of AI in the G7, so that businesses and workers can realise its full benefits.

To drive adoption across our key sectors, we have appointed AI Sector Champions to work with industry to identify barriers and unlock investment, and to develop sector-led adoption plans. At the recent AI Adoption Summit, our Champions published five of these plans, showcasing what effective AI adoption looks like in practice so that others can follow. The Government has committed over £200 million to deliver leading recommendations from the AI Champions’ plans including by expanding Innovate UK’s BridgeAI programme across the Industrial Strategy sectors. This is complemented by our AI Skills Boost programme, which will equip 10 million workers with essential AI skills by 2030.

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