1. Will the Minister outline the steps the Welsh Government is taking to encourage more local businesses in South Wales West to exploit the power of artificial intelligence? OAQ53610

Thank you. Our economic action plan recognises the crucial role digital technologies will play in the future, with digitisation and innovation featuring as key themes within the calls to action. We continue to engage with business to encourage the adoption of technologies, including artificial intelligence.

Deputy Minister, artificial intelligence and machine learning has the power to transform small businesses, yet the majority of businesses in Wales do not know how to harness its power. Machine learning is not just for large tech companies; it can be utilised by the local cafe, to assist with processing payments, VAT returns, and automating a whole myriad of tasks. With the majority of tools being open source, even down to Welsh language voice data—thanks to Mozilla's Common Voice project—there is a low barrier to entry into the field. What businesses need is pointing in the right direction. What can the Welsh Government do to promote the benefits of artificial intelligence and ensure that we equip future business owners with the skills to exploit technology to assist their businesses?

Thank you for the question. The Member is preaching to the converted on this one—I fully recognise the benefits of artificial intelligence, both at the high, cutting-edge end, but also in the more mundane, everyday end of running a business and running organisations. And I've been impressed, since coming into the brief, with the amount of activity that there is going on, not just directed by the Welsh Government, but by universities and by businesses themselves. I think this is a space where we do need to have a discussion about what the role of Government is, because this innovation is happening despite Government in many cases and not because of it. But there are important things the Welsh Government are doing to try and increase the uptake of these technologies, and we're expecting the report of the review by Professor Phil Brown shortly to make us focus on what it is we can do.

But I just want to quote one example to the Member, to assure her that there is good practice existing within her region already, and that's Aurora International Consulting in Port Talbot, who are using AI for construction management. They have developed a project, which was launched last month, to use AI for the risk assessment and method statement analysis, which are now automatically generated, which is not only producing improvements in safety and accuracy, but is saving 95 per cent of the cost of compliance, and they're now looking at how they can roll this out internationally. So, we need to look at how we can apply this domestically, but also how domestic firms can develop this here and export it abroad.

Indeed, staying ahead of the curve in technological innovation is critical for the success of businesses in Wales, and artificial intelligence is one of the emergent battlegrounds in business competition, and, on a global stage, companies like Sony recognise this. But here in south Wales, the award-winning Sony UK technology centre in Pencoed is leading the way in this and many other ways, including tackling the challenges of modern manufacturing and improving processes by using the latest internet-of-things technology, bringing together manufacturing production in a seamless process—into one, seamless operation. Last year, Minister, the AMROC research and development facility in Pencoed was launched, in collaboration with Sony headquarters and other facilities in Japan. And as Steve Dalton, the managing director, said at the time,

'Being chosen to carry out this vital research as a collaborative partner with our headquarters puts Sony UK TEC on the map, not just in Wales, but on the global manufacturing stage, which is something we are rightly proud of...It is also a testament to our highly skilled workforce who have set themselves apart thanks to their unparalleled knowledge and abilities.'

So, I wonder whether the Deputy Minister, or the Minister, or both, would accept an invitation to visit the award-winning Sony UK technology centre to see how an incredible team are putting Wales now at the forefront of world-leading modern manufacturing and technology.

Thank you for the question. The Minister has just informed me he has already accepted an invitation to attend the factory; I would also be delighted to come. I'm aware the Member is, of course, a great champion for Sony's presence in Pencoed. I think there's a real exciting opportunity. It's one of the things I want to try and focus on in this portfolio—how we harness the good practice that exists in the public and the private sector. Because we have in south Wales great sources of data richness—in the DVLA, in Companies House, in the Office for National Statistics—in Wales, alongside the example the Member just quoted of Sony, and elsewhere. How can we bring them together to harness that collective power to give Wales some kind of advantage in this field? So, we'd be delighted to come, I'm sure, and I look forward to discussing with the Member further what other opportunities there might be.

You mentioned earlier, Deputy Minister, what the role of Government is in this, and one of those can be reassurance. I've spoken to internet providers about the 5G cover in the last few months in the context of the Swansea bay city deal, and they make the point that both the private sector and the public sector need to create demand for 5G, such as uses for AI, for them to commit to invest in the technology that's needed. Only yesterday I saw a media piece on how AI can better interpret cancer diagnostic scans more accurately and more quickly than doctors and, of course, health and well-being is one of the main themes of the city deal. With the review we've just had, I think there might be a bit of a risk that it'll knock private sector confidence at a time when we're really looking to maximise a golden opportunity for AI commercialisation. So, how can you reassure those innovators in AI that my region, with its two great universities, is still a good place to invest and commercialise?

We'll be discussing this further this afternoon, I know, but let's decouple the city deal with the broader agenda of digitisation. The two are not the same thing. One is a means towards an end, and let's focus on the broader end. 5G, of course, at the moment is not something that's being developed at any scale. We've commissioned Innovation Point to give advice to the Welsh Governmenment on how we can capitalise upon it. There are far more mundane things that we can do to make these technologies work. For example, the internet-of-things can be powered by a LoRaWAN network, which is a low-frequency network that is much more commonplace and day-to-day than 5G. So, there are things that we can do now using far less high-tech gadgets than 5G that can really make a difference. So, let's focus on what can be done while we figure out where this goes next, because it's a fast-moving environment.