UK government to boost civil service AI skills in latest One Big Thing campaign
The UK civil service has said it will launch its newest One Big Thing campaign this autumn with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI).
The One Big Thing initiative aims to upskill civil servants on key skills every year to create what the government called a “culture change”.
Last year, One Big Thing focused on innovation in government, and key lessons from the programme were shared at Global Government Forum’s Innovation conference in March. In 2023, the theme was data, and the campaign was launched at Global Government Forum’s Public Service Data Live conference and provided an estimated “half a million hours of data learning” to more than 200,000 civil servants.
Watch the One Big Thing sessions from Innovation 2025 on demand:
Innovation in the UK Government Communication Service (One Big Thing)
Innovation in Operational Delivery (One Big Thing)
Innovation in risk management (One Big Thing)
Innovation masterclass: the skills for innovation
The government said this year’s focus on AI acknowledges the crucial role officials play in “shaping how AI is used responsibly to deliver better for the public”.
It said it aims to give civil servants “the right knowledge, tools and practical experience to use AI confidently and responsibly across all of our work”. It is also expected to build on the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan launched at the beginning of the year, which it called “government’s single biggest lever to deliver its Plan for Change”.
“AI is at the centre of improving efficiency and freeing up public servants’ time to do more of the work that only humans can do”, said Joanna Davinson, government chief digital officer at Government Digital Service.
“By equipping our people with AI literacy, we’re not just preparing for the future – we’re actively shaping it to design more responsive, efficient services that better meet the needs of the public.”
Civil servants will be expected to follow a programme that will include the learning of AI essentials, as well as using AI to test their learning in the context of their work so as to deliver a better standard of public services.
Register now for Public Service Data.AI 18 September 2025 – London, UK
Brought to you by Global Government Forum and hosted by HM Government, Public Service Data.AI is the UK’s flagship annual event for civil servants working to unlock the power of data and artificial intelligence across government. Free to attend for all UK public servants, this event brings together digital leaders, policymakers, data specialists and service designers to explore how the effective use of data and AI can drive smarter, fairer, and more responsive public services.
From modernising digital infrastructure and fostering public trust to ensuring ethical AI procurement and improving data-sharing across departments, Public Service Data.AI 2025 will focus on the key enablers of successful digital transformation.
Find out more and register here.
Small changes, big differences
Former UK cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, Simon Case, said when launching last year’s initiative that innovation should be thought of in government as “small changes that cumulatively make a really big difference”.
In recent months, the UK government has set out plans to rollout artificial intelligence in government.
In January, the UK’s prime minister Keir Starmer launched an AI Opportunities Action Plan to “mainline AI into the veins” of the country. The following month, the government published its AI playbook for government, setting out 10 common principles to guide the safe, responsible an effective use of artificial intelligence (AI) in government organisations. It has been complied with input from 20 government departments and public sector organisations, along with insights and peer-review from industry and academic advisers.
Then, in May this year, the UK government launched Humphrey, a suite of AI tools designed to help civil servants work more efficiently, with tools including Consult, for analysing consultation responses; Parlex, to help policymakers search through and analyse decades of debate from the Houses of Parliament; Minute, a secure transcription service for meetings, producing customisable summaries in the formats that public servants need; Lex, which helps officials research the law by providing analysis and summaries of relevant laws for specific, complex issues; and Redbox, a generative AI tool designed to help civil servants with day-to-day tasks like summarising policy and preparing briefings.
Read more: Yes, civil servant: Meet Humphrey, the UK government’s AI package for officials
Redbox is already available for civil servants, and GGF’s Digital Leaders 2024 report used it to summarise interviews with senior government leaders as part of the report’s analysis.
The Scottish Government had applied the government’s ‘Consult’ tool (part of the Humphrey suite) to a consultation on the regulation of non-surgical cosmetic treatments – its first live deployment.
At Public Service Data.AI, you will be able to hear from across the public sector agencies on how they are using data and AI to drive better public services. Find our more and register here.
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