{"id":405002,"date":"2026-02-03T04:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/405002\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T04:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T04:10:11","slug":"uks-first-government-backed-tech-town-named","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/405002\/","title":{"rendered":"UK\u2019s first Government-backed Tech Town named"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">Barnsley has been named the UK\u2019s first Tech Town, meaning local schools and colleges, businesses and NHS infrastructures will receive Government support to increase artificial intelligence (AI) opportunities.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">This will include testing AI tutoring tools in schools, free AI and digital training for residents and businesses as well as trialling AI tools enabling quicker check-ins and faster triage in hospitals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">It comes a week after the Government announced that free courses will be offered to every adult in the UK to teach people how to use AI tools effectively in the workplace, and the naming of Lanarkshire in Scotland as the latest AI growth zone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">Technology Secretary Liz Kendall will visit the South Yorkshire town alongside the UK chief executives of Microsoft and Cisco, who have pledged their support to boost AI and digital skills in the area.<\/p>\n<p>    <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4c214c0afec1fa501a0febc436ecd981.jpeg\" alt=\"Liz Kendall wearing a hard hat\" loading=\"eager\" height=\"427\" width=\"640\" class=\"yf-lglytj  loaded\"\/> Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said Barnsley\u2019s ambitions are crucial (PA)  \u00b7 Jane Barlow    <\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">The Government said lessons and feedback from the rollout in the market town will help shape how AI opportunities are developed across the UK.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">Ms Kendall said: \u201cI am delighted to have been invited by Barnsley, to work with them to achieve their ambition to become the UK\u2019s leading tech town.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">\u201cIf we are going to get AI to work for Britain, we need Britons and British public services that can work with AI.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">\u201cThat is why Barnsley\u2019s ambitions are crucial, because if we can show that AI helps young people learn, supports local businesses to be more productive, and improves public services, then we can show what\u2019s possible for the whole country.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">\u201cWhat we learn here will shape how we roll out AI across the UK \u2013 making sure every community sees the benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw==\" alt=\"Barnsley Town Hall and surrounding buildings\" loading=\"lazy\" height=\"638\" width=\"960\" class=\"yf-lglytj loader\"\/> Barnsley has been named the UK\u2019s first Tech Town (Alamy\/PA)      <\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">Labour leader of Barnsley Council, Sir Stephen Houghton, said:\u00a0\u201cThis is one of the most important investments in Barnsley in our history and will help secure our long-term economic future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">South Yorkshire\u2019s Labour Mayor Oliver Coppard said: \u201cBeing recognised as the first Tech Town in the UK both reflects and reinforces that momentum, strengthening South Yorkshire\u2019s position as one of the most exciting tech communities in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"yf-vbsvxt\">Barnsley residents will be invited to a series of \u201cTech Town Halls\u201d in which they will have the chance to give feedback on the programme and help decide how AI should be used across the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barnsley has been named the UK\u2019s first Tech Town, meaning local schools and colleges, businesses and NHS infrastructures&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":405003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[151055,59,57,58,31507,50,121198,151054,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-405002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-kingdom","8":"tag-barnsley-council","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-greatbritain","12":"tag-liz-kendall","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-south-yorkshire","15":"tag-tech-town","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/405003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}