Alan Turing Institute unveils AI science and innovation program for UK security

The Alan Turing Institute has announced a major restructuring and new science and innovation program focused on defense, environment, and health as part of its shift toward high-impact national missions.

The Alan Turing Institute took to LinkedIn to outline its new direction, confirming that it has completed an internal transformation to focus on national priorities in artificial intelligence and data science.

The Institute, the UK’s national center for data science and AI, said it will now focus on “high-impact missions that develop specialist and sovereign capabilities.” These will address major societal challenges, including protecting critical national infrastructure against cyber threats and advancing AI-driven weather forecasting to support emergency planning.

In response to government calls for the Turing to meet evolving national needs, the Institute’s Board and Executive have commissioned former RAF Air Commodore Blythe Crawford CBE to assess how the organization can best support the UK’s AI ambitions in defense, national security, and intelligence. Crawford is working with the Institute’s defense and security team and will present his recommendations to the Board.

Defense, environment, and health drive the new framework

Under its new science and innovation program, the Institute’s Defense and National Security initiative will focus on developing AI-based tools to safeguard energy, transport, and utility networks from cyberattacks. It will also deepen collaboration with national and international partners to advance AI research in security, sensing, and threat assessment.

In the environment and sustainability portfolio, the Institute is developing AI forecasting models that can deliver weather predictions in minutes rather than hours, using less computing power than conventional systems. Another mission will target emissions reductions across transport and manufacturing networks to accelerate progress toward Net Zero.

In health, the Institute’s work includes a cardiac digital twins project that uses AI to create digital models of the human heart. This builds on existing NHS trials and aims to improve clinical interventions and patient outcomes through more personalized data analysis.

Strengthening the UK’s digital and data ecosystem

The Institute’s updated science and innovation portfolio emphasizes partnerships with organizations that hold secure or sensitive datasets. The goal is to bridge the gap between research and real-world deployment that benefits UK citizens.

Chief Scientist Professor Mark Girolami says the new framework is designed to ensure AI research delivers measurable impact. “Digital, Data, and AI technologies have huge transformative potential and as the national institute our purpose is to ensure they are adopted in ways that change our country for the better; in the hands of our public servants and critical industries, shaping better decisions, boosting productivity and growing our economy.”

Dr Doug Gurr, Chair of the Alan Turing Institute, adds that the transformation marks a clear step forward. “The Turing has made major changes to transform into an institute that’s tightly focused on adding unique value for the UK, making a clear step up on our work in defense and national security and tackling pressing challenges in environment and health.”