Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)[1] is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was established on 7 February 2023 by a cabinet reshuffle under the Rishi Sunak premiership.
Not to be confused with the preceding Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (2017–2023), the defunct Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (2007–2009), or the historic Ministry of Technology (1964–1970).Department overview
7 February 2023
- Sarah Munby, Permanent Secretary
- Dame Angela McLean, Government Chief Scientific Adviser
- Freya Guinness, Chief Operating Officer
- Jo Shanmugalingam & Susannah Storey, Directors General
- Advanced Research and Invention Agency
- UK Space Agency
- Intellectual Property Office
- Building Digital UK
- Met Office
- UK Research and Innovation
- Ordnance Survey
- Council for Science and Technology
- Government Office for Science
- Regulatory Horizons Council
- National Physical Laboratory
- Copyright Tribunal
- Information Commissioner's Office
The department took on policy responsibilities from the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The new department is responsible for helping to encourage, develop and manage the UK's scientific, research, and technological outputs. DSIT is also responsible for managing the necessary physical and digital infrastructure and regulation to support the British economy, UK public services, national security, and wider UK Government priorities.[2]
The department is led by the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, supported by a number of junior ministers, and senior civil servants. The incumbent Secretary of State is Michelle Donelan; she is the first to hold the role, having previously been the final Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
History[edit]
The department was established on 7 February 2023 after a cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. It absorbed some of the functions and responsibilities of the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the 'Digital' portfolio from the former Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The new department's first Secretary of State, Michelle Donelan, was the final Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Additionally, the new department became responsible for a number of agencies and offices drawn from across the rest of the UK Government. These included the Government Office for Science (formerly under BEIS), the Office for Science and Technology Strategy (formerly of the Cabinet Office), the Office for Life Sciences (jointly with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), formerly a BEIS-DHSC joint unit) and the Office for Artificial Intelligence (formerly of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport).[3]