AI action plan, Stratospheric solar success, ￡21m gigapark boost, and more!

The UK Prime Minister unveils an ambitious action plan to position artificial intelligence at the heart of economic growth, innovation, and global competitiveness. A solar-powered aircraft achieves unprecedented success, soaring to new stratospheric heights and showcasing the future of sustainable aviation. Concerns over AI’s environmental footprint intensify, prompting a push for greener, more sustainable technologies. In a bold step forward, ￡21m in funding launches a major gigapark, set to revolutionise large-scale manufacturing and drive sustainability.

This newsletter gives you an exclusive sneak peek into the official AE Newsletter being released tomorrow. Make sure to subscribe to receive the full newsletter straight into your inbox.

Happy Reading!

PM outlines action plan for artificial intelligence

The government has set out its plan to help deliver a decade of national renewal through the wider adoption and use of artificial intelligence (AI). Today’s announcement (January 13, 2025) by prime minister Sir Keir Starmer supports all 50 recommendations from Matt Clifford’s AI Opportunities Action Plan.

To support the AI strategy, AI?Growth Zones will be established to speed up planning proposals and build more?AI?infrastructure. Public compute capacity will increase by twentyfold to give the UK the processing power needed to fully embrace AI, and to that end, work will start immediately on a new supercomputer

Also included in the plan is the establishment of a new team to build the UK’s sovereign capabilities, and a new National Data Library will be established to safely and securely unlock the value of public data and support?AI?development.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology added that a dedicated?AI?Energy Council chaired by the science and energy secretaries will also be established, working with energy companies to understand the energy demands and challenges of AI.

Read more here

Solar powered aircraft achieves new stratospheric success

A British-led team of engineers has taken a leap forward in the race to harness the stratosphere for earth observation and communications, completing a new series of test flights of BAE Systems' High Altitude Pseudo Satellite (HAPS) Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS), PHASA-35, in quick succession. ?

During the first flight at Spaceport America in New Mexico, US, in recent weeks, the solar powered aircraft flew for 24 hours climbing to more than 66,000 feet and cruising in the stratosphere, before successfully landing in a serviceable condition, meaning it was ready to fly again just two days later.

This is a major milestone in the development of PHASA-35, named after its 35 metre wingspan, demonstrating its ability to be launched, flown, landed, potentially reconfigured and then relaunched again so quickly.

Designed by BAE Systems’ subsidiary Prismatic Ltd to operate above the weather and conventional air traffic, PHASA-35, has the potential to provide a persistent and stable platform for uses including ultra-long endurance intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

Read more here???

Businesses struggling with AI’s climate impact

A new report has shown that businesses are struggling to keep up with the environmental impact of generative AI as the technology becomes more widely adopted.

Published by the Capgemini?Research?Institute, the report found that almost half (48 per cent) of executives believe their use of generative AI (Gen AI) has driven a rise in emissions, with 42 per cent needing to reassess climate goals.

While adoption of Gen AI has risen sharply – increasing fourfold between 2023 and 2024, according to the report - just 12 per cent of executives that use the technology say their organisation measures the environmental footprint of that use. Only a fifth of respondents ranked environmental impact as a top five factor when selecting or building AI models.

The research found that three-quarters of businesses are finding it challenging to measure the technology’s footprint due to limited transparency from providers, with the industry lacking a methodology around how to account for environmental footprint. As the vast majority (three-quarters) of businesses exclusively use?pre-trained models, executives are heavily reliant on their technology partners to assess Gen AI’s climate impact.

Read more here

￡21m funding kickstarts major gigapark

The approval of a ￡21m funding package has set plans in motion for a battery manufacturing and technology hub, resulting in the closure of Coventry Airport.

The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has greenlit the funding to Coventry City Council for Greenpower Park – a 5.7m sq ft hub set to create up to 6,000 jobs across battery manufacturing, recycling and research.

Funding will be focused towards installing a 30 MVA power supply, obtaining planning consent, and completing infrastructure design, to make the site development-ready and attract private investment.

It will however result in the closure of Coventry Airport and create uncertainty for businesses currently operating from the site.

Outline planning has already been secured for Greenpower Park after an initial ￡1.962m of West Midlands Investment Zone (WMIZ) capital funding was approved, taking the total funding pot to ￡23m.

Read more here

EP 20 AE Talks: Harnessing young minds for UK growth and Net Zero with Dr Hilary Leevers, CEO of EngineeringUK

Hilary talks to us about the successes and challenges in enabling more young people from all backgrounds to get into engineering and technology, helping to drive the vital skills needed to drive UK growth, increase competitiveness, and achieve net zero goals.

Listen to the latest episode here

For the full newsletter releasing tomorrow, please subscribe to our weekly email newsletter here if you want more engineering news and updates check out our news page on the Advanced Engineering website, where you receive daily updates and stories.

Need to get in contact? Get in touch with the member of the team

Thank you for reading!