Annual Report 2015/16
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THE ALAN TURING INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE PERIOD TO 31 March 2016 Tel: +44 (0) 300 770 1912 British Library Company number: 96 Euston Road 09512457 NW1 2DB Charity Number 1162533 [email protected] turing.ac.uk CONTENTS 04 Chair’s Foreword 05 Director’s Foreword 06 – 09 Trustees’ Report 10 – 22 Independent Auditors Report and Accounts Annual Report and Accounts 03 CHAIR’S FOREWORD formed a trading subsidiary and also Europe. This is a new source of risk for held interviews for our first cohort of all and has introduced an unexpected Turing research fellows. As I write this note of caution into our longer-term we are joined by thirty researchers plans. Like all organisations we for a summer programme and are will do our best to deal with the busily refurbishing space for the 120 consequences of this new uncertainty. or so researchers who will join us in the autumn at the start of our first full Starting the Institute has been academic year. enormously exciting and we are highly optimistic about what the This breathless pace could not Institute will achieve. We will work to have been sustained without achieve our vision to become a world enormous support from all concerned leader in data science research and throughout the UK data science innovation, and to be a great resource community. I would like to thank all for the UK’s data science community, of the colleagues who joined us on for its businesses and for its society secondment in the early months of more generally. the Institute, the highly professional academic and business team we have built since then and my board I am delighted to serve as the colleagues for their continual advice inaugural Chair of the Alan Turing and encouragement. Looking outside Institute. It is a great privilege to work of the Institute, I am also deeply Howard Covington with the UK Engineering and Physical grateful to our founding universities, Chair Sciences Research Council and our the UK Engineering and Physical university joint venture partners as Sciences Research Council, the UK we build a world-class data science Department for Business, Innovation research institute. Our unique view & Skills, the British Library, the Lloyd’s of data science is based on the Register Foundation, our UK defence breadth of expertise available to and security sector partners and Intel us in the Institute, stretching from for all the support they have given us. the computational sciences, to the mathematical sciences, engineering For all our hard work, we have merely and the social sciences. Our joint laid the foundation for what is to venture agreement was signed come. We anticipate a spectacular in March 2015 and became start to our academic year in the unconditional in July; also in July we autumn when we will have the best announced strategic partnerships with scientists from the UK and around the the Lloyd’s Register Foundation and world joining us in an interdisciplinary the UK defence and security sector; academic environment that will our director, Andrew Blake, joined stretch from pure mathematics through us in October; in November we had statistics into computer science and our public launch, made our first the social sciences and, working senior academic appointments and with our strategic partners, into announced a strategic partnership with applications across the economy. We Intel; in January 2016 we launched aspire to make a major difference our doctoral training scheme; by to what the UK and the global data February 2016 we had held over science community can achieve, both thirty academic scoping workshops to in developing new theory and by help determine our research strategy, achieving high impact for research. with over 1100 participating scientists ranging from ethicists to machine It would be remiss of me not to refer learners, to topologists and systems to the upheaval currently underway in experts; and in March 2016 we the relationship between the UK and 04 Annual Report and Accounts DIRECTOR’S FOREWORD so that we become a true national academic community who submitted centre for data science. scoping workshop proposals, participated in peer review and panel Even before I arrived, the Institute decisions for workshop proposals began by undertaking a peer- or fellowship candidates, organised reviewed scientific scoping process or joined in scoping workshops, or to assess the data science landscape volunteered their time, efforts and and appetite for engagement across expertise to help enable the rapid the UK and internationally. As launch of the Institute. summarised in our Scoping Workshop Report, available online After less than a year we have at turing.ac.uk, we held over 30 achieved a great deal. The Institute workshops from a total of over 100 aims to become a major force in the submitted proposals to survey the rich development of the dynamic new data science landscape. At the same discipline of data science. The energy time, meetings were held with over and dedication of the fine team that 100 leaders from the private, public we have assembled give me great and third sectors. Together these confidence that we are on course activities have been crucial in shaping to become a world leader in data our strategic priorities, as described science research and innovation. It is enormously exciting to be leading in our recently published Shaping the Alan Turing Institute. The data our Strategy document, also at economy is developing at a furious turing.ac.uk. pace and on an international scale, and the Institute will bring together Looking forward to the start of our some of the brightest minds from first full academic year of operation the UK and beyond to address the in the autumn, we have attracted an Andrew Blake challenges this poses for business, impressive array of talent to join us: Director government and society. over 10 newly appointed research fellows from a field of over 300; The Institute is an independent charity, over 20 new students admitted to established as a joint venture between our inaugural doctoral programme; the universities of Cambridge, and over 80 faculty fellows who will Edinburgh, Oxford, University College join us part-time from our founding London, Warwick and the UK partner universities. I am proud Engineering and Physical Sciences of our commitment to address the Research Council following a public gender imbalance that affects many competition with international peer areas of data science. We strongly review. In addition to these founder encourage the participation of female members and core funders, strategic researchers, and have recruited 25- partnerships have already been 33% female students, research fellows formed with Intel, the UK defence and faculty fellows in our first year of and security sector and the Lloyd’s appointments. Register Foundation. We have so far concentrated on building a vibrant Starting up an institute of this size and presence at our London headquarters ambition is a complex undertaking. It with our partners the British Library, but has required the time and dedication this is just the beginning. To succeed of many people. I would like to in our mission of creating global thank everyone who has contributed impact through research, training and to our strong start, including those leadership in data science, we will colleagues who served on the create a rich network of partners and Institute’s interim executive board and collaborations throughout academia, interim programme committee. I would commerce, industry and government also like to thank the members of the Annual Report and Accounts 05 TRUSTEES’ REPORT The Trustees present their annual report for the period Financial review and results for the year ended 31 March 2016 under the Companies Act 2006 The Institute is funded through grants from its founding and charities Act 2011 together with the audited accounts members and strategic partnerships. Income of £7.7m has for the period. been received during the period. Expenditure of £1.4m has mainly been on the Institute’s start-up costs. A surplus of £6.3m has been transferred to reserves and will be used to STRATEGIC REPORT fund research and Institute costs during 2017 and beyond. Review of achievements and performance The Trustees are focussed on creating a strong start to the Risks and uncertainties academic year in the coming autumn. Already the Institute The Institute’s risk register is reported formally to the audit has made significant progress in laying the foundations for committee and focused risk reporting on selected themes its future success. These achievements include: occurs on a biannual basis. The Institute has a formal risk management framework • Signing of the joint venture agreement in March 2015, embedded within the business to support the identification which became unconditional in July 2015; and effective management of risk across the Institute. • Announcing strategic partnerships with the Lloyd’s Heads of functions are each responsible for managing Register Foundation and the UK defence and security and reporting risk in accordance with the Institute’s sector, also in July 2015; risk management policy and standards that have been • Appointing the director, Andrew Blake, who joined the approved by the Audit Committee. Institute in October 2015; • Holding its public launch at the British Library in In common with similar organisations, the Institute faces November 2015; many risks and uncertainties. For example, economic • Announcing a strategic partnership with Intel, also in instability or political change could impact the funding of November 2015; research at the Institute or reduce the Institute’s ability to find additional strategic partners and/or achieve financial • Launching its doctoral training schemed in January sustainability. The Institute may become the victim of a 2016, subsequently offering to over 20 new students to cyber attack.