London, 18 December 2025 - Applications to the Civil Service AI & Data Challenge have surged by 160 percent in a year, demonstrating civil servants' growing enthusiasm for harnessing digital and AI technologies. Civil servants submitted 252 ideas for how to make better use of data or apply AI in government, compared to 97 last year. The previous record was 190 in the Challenge’s first year of operation, 2021.
The Challenge is a partnership programme run by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the Cabinet Office, publishing house Global Government Forum and NTT DATA UK&I, a global leader in AI, digital business and IT services. Civil servants are invited to put forward ideas for how to improve government’s systems and services; then interdisciplinary, cross-departmental teams are built around the most promising proposals, and they pitch their ideas to a judging panel of departmental CIOs. The winner is awarded £50,000 worth of development support by NTT DATA UK&I, putting it on the road to implementation.
Among the departments, civil servants working for the Department for Work and Pensions and its arm’s-length bodies – the biggest employer in government, with 97,000 of the UK’s 550,000 civil servants – put forward the most ideas: 38 of the 252. Joint second were HMRC and Defra, with 27 ideas each.
Alongside the record numbers of ideas submitted, this year’s Challenge also saw the highest ever number of civil servants volunteering to join a project team, with 339 colleagues putting themselves forward.
The huge rise in applications was welcomed by Aimee Smith, Chief Data Officer for Government, who has become one of the programme’s ‘Champions’ alongside Liz Kendall, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology; Cat Little, Civil Service Chief Operating Officer; and Emran Mian, Permanent Secretary of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
We are delivering national renewal by bringing public services into the modern age with fresh ideas. “It's really encouraging to see civil servants leading that charge – proposing innovative ways to leverage AI and data which will help us support businesses, crack down on benefit fraud, and cut waiting lists.
I’m incredibly proud that the Civil Service AI & Data Challenge has attracted record numbers this year, highlighting the incredible talent and capability across the Civil Service. At NTT DATA UK&I, we greatly value our partnership with the Public Sector and we’re passionate about supporting initiatives like this that foster innovation, collaboration, and the responsible use of data and AI to deliver better outcomes for citizens.
Judges will announce which eight ideas will go forward within the programme in February.
For more information on the Civil Service AI & Data Challenge, see the dedicated website: https://datachallenge.uk/