TL;DR

Barnsley, the UK’s first government-backed tech town, is launching two AI pilots: a Healthcare Living Lab at Barnsley Hospital to reduce waiting lists and missed appointments, and an £800,000 AI Upskilling Challenge Fund to train local SMEs and residents. Both programmes are designed as blueprints that could be replicated across the country.

Healthcare Living Lab

Cisco will work with the local community to create a Healthcare Living Lab at Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust starting in April. The lab, part of Cisco’s Lister Alliance collaboration, will bring together startups, SMEs, NHS partners, and academia to test AI tools designed to reduce missed appointments, improve outpatient flow, support clinical decision-making, and cut time spent on paperwork.

Cisco also plans to offer free digital skills training to healthcare staff through its Networking Academy, covering cybersecurity and AI basics. The intention is to generate evidence on what works in a real hospital environment before considering wider NHS rollout.

AI skills for local businesses and residents

The £800,000 AI Upskilling Challenge Fund targets people and businesses that might otherwise be left behind by the AI transition. Manufacturing SMEs looking to boost productivity and voluntary groups supporting older residents are among the intended beneficiaries.

The fund opens for applications in May 2026, with organisations including firms, non-profits, and community groups invited to pitch training proposals. Successful applicants will receive funding to deliver AI skills training from the summer. The programme builds on the government’s wider goal of equipping 10 million UK workers with AI skills.

Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said: “Barnsley is showing the rest of the country how we can use tech to build a future that works for all.”

Looking forward

Barnsley was designated the UK’s first tech town in February 2026. These pilots represent the first concrete delivery against that promise. For other UK towns watching the programme, the test is whether AI deployed in a real hospital and training delivered to local businesses produces measurable results — or whether the tech town label remains more aspiration than outcome.