The UK’s ‘best and brightest science and technology minds,’ including former astronaut Tim Peake and McLaren founder Ron Dennis, met at the inaugural Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) startup board meeting, in a bid to help the department’s goal of making the UK a science and technology superpower by 2030.

Meeting for the first time as a group since being appointed in April, members, according to a release from the UK Government, ‘discussed a variety of topics, with the combined experience and expertise in the room offering a unique opportunity for officials and ministers to understand how best the Government can support industry.’

Further developing the Government’s regulatory policy on AI was high on the agenda, with the startup board discussing how the department can play a role in the Prime Minister’s ambition for the UK to lead on AI policy both at home and abroad, and how the Government can deploy revolutionary AI technologies in more sectors to improve productivity and unlock growth, including in our public services.

Members of the startup board also shared ideas on how the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology can be the most innovative department in government, looking to emulate the boldness and daring ambition that is seen in the science and technology sectors that the board’s members are part of.

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Finally on the agenda was an exploration into how the department can make better use of analysis and insight to improve the impact it has on both the general public and the science and technology ecosystems in the UK.

The seven inaugural non-executive members of the DSIT startup board are:

• Shonnel Malani – Managing Partner at Advent International and Chair of the Board at Cobham and Ultra Electronics.
• Tim Peake CMG – former European Space Agency astronaut and British Army Air Corps Helicopter Pilot.
• Ron Dennis CBE – Founding Shareholder and former Chairman and CEO of the McLaren Technology Group Ltd, Chairman of Podium Analytics.
• Baroness Alison Wolf CBE – Professor at King’s College London, cross-bench House of Lords Peer and former government expert adviser on skills.
• Melissa Di Donato – former CEO of SUSE Software Solutions, iNED at JPMorgan Chase, Supervisory Board member of Porsche AG, Senior Advisor at Hg Capital.
• Saul Klein – co-founder and Managing Partner of Phoenix Court, home to LocalGlobe and Latitude, as well as co-founder of Seedcamp and ZINC.
• Professor Jason Chin FRS – Fellow in Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge, and Head, Centre for Chemical and Synthetic Biology at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology.