Cambridge named UK’s most AI-ready city in new study

Cambridge could be first in line to benefit from a growing appetite for artificial intelligence (AI) in business and the public sector, new research has revealed.

The university city scored highest outside London in the AI-readiness Index devised by AI and analytics specialist SAS – closely followed by friendly rival, Oxford.

The index, compiled from seven criteria, including the number of AI-related MSc courses and job ads, tech meet-ups and amount of investment from Innovate UK in a town or city.

Along with having the highest amount of AI-related jobs within a five mile radius, Cambridge also has a 43% five year business growth rate, and one of the highest volumes of research and development spend.

Manchester and Salford also look like a force to be reckoned in the AI stakes, taking third and fourth place respectively. Collectively, they have 1,392 AI-related jobs available – the most outside London – indicating high demand for people with data skills.

However, the analysis also revealed which parts of the UK are least prepared to utilise AI to its full potential, and benefit from the jobs and investment it can bring.

The top 10 most AI-ready cities are:

While seven out of the least AI-ready cities are in the devolved nations, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Cardiff all appear in the top 15, with Edinburgh having the second highest number of AI-related courses overall.

Glyn Townsend, Senior Director of Education Services at SAS for Europe, Middle East and Africa said:

“AI, machine learning (ML) and data analytics are transforming the way businesses and other organisations operate, and the fact that so many cities are embracing it as a positive sign. Many, such as Manchester and Salford, are outside London and the South East, which is good news for the government’s ‘levelling up’ plans.

“At the same time, our research also shows large discrepancies between the most and least-prepared areas. Size and the remoteness of the location might explain why some are lagging behind – but it’s important they’re given opportunities to get up to speed.

“For a start, the UK doesn’t have enough data talent to meet demand for AI, so we need to increase the talent pool with more opportunities for people to upskill and reskill, instead of only relying on graduates.”

He added:

“Government figures show there are up to 234,000 data vacancies, yet only a potential supply of 10,000 graduates per year. Instead of relying on graduates to fill the growing numbers of roles, it’s vital that employers help people build their skills with training, experience and invest in solutions that help them use their skills productively.”

The full report can be found here: Smart Cities: Which parts of the UK are the most AI-ready

Methodology

To find out which are leading the way in the UK, and which are lagging behind, SAS looked at seven key indicators:

●      Number of MSc courses containing AI-related keywords
●      Number of job adverts containing AI-related keywords on Indeed.com
●      GDP per head, per area from ONS data
●      Number of tech meet-ups within a five mile radius, using meetup.com
●      Five years business start-up growth
●      Innovate UK investment by £1million
●      R&D investment by £ 1 million

SAS gave every city and borough an index score for each separate data point, adding up each score over the seven data points to calculate an overall score out of 700.