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New prime minister Andy Burnham has shut down the government’s Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and merged it with the business department.
Led by former business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, the new department is called the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.
The move comes despite strong calls by many technology entrepreneurs and experts calling to keep DSIT. A letter sent to the new prime minister by Julian Harris, CEO at Tech UK, and Dom Hallas, executive director at Startup Coalition, said it would be “the wrong change at the wrong time” and send “a terrible signal” to the tech sector.
Matt Clifford, Keir Starmer’s AI opportunities adviser, said it “would be a big mistake”, adding that “right now is a critical moment for tech as an economic and national security issue”.
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