Funding of 17.3m pounds for artificial intelligence and robotics research to be carried out by British universities is to be announced by the government.

　　英国政府宣布向全国大学投入1730万英镑用于人工智能和机器人的研究。

　　It is part of the government’s digital strategy, to be published by Culture Secretary Karen Bradley on Wednesday.

　　文化部部长Karen Bradley在星期三表示，这是政府数字战略的一部分。

　　A report by Accenture released last year estimated that AI could contribute up to 654bn pound to the UK economy by 2035.

　　Accenture公司在去年的调查报告中预测，截至2035年，人工智能对英国经济作出的贡献将高达6540亿英镑。

　　But the government was criticised last year for its support of the UK tech scene.

　　但是英国政府由于对科技的过高投入而在去年曾遭到批评。

　　As part of the new digital strategy, computer scientist Prof Dame Wendy Hall and tech CEO Jerome Pesenti, former chief data scientist at IBM, have been asked to review the UK’s artificial intelligence sector.

　　作为新兴数字战略的一部分，计算机科学家教授Dame Wendy Hall和科技公司CEO、前IBM首席数据科学家Jerome Pesenti受邀重返人工智能领域。

　　Our scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs are at the forefront of the development of artificial intelligence and I’m looking forward to exploring how industry and government can work together to support the technology in the UK, said Dame Wendy.

　　Dame Wendy说：“我们的科学家、研究工作者和企业家们都走在人工智能发展的最前沿，我很期待这一产业和政府之间将怎样合作互助,从而推动英国科技的发展。”

　　Mrs Bradley described the UK as a pioneer of artificial intelligence.

　　Bradley女士认为英国是人工智能领域的先驱者。

　　Backing our thriving digital economy to expand and grow by putting the best foundations in place to develop new technology is a vital part of this government’s plan to build a modern, dynamic and global trading nation, she said.

　　她说：“支持我们正兴起的数字化经济，把最好的硬件设施提供给发展中的新技术是政府计划的一部分，这一计划就是要发展一个现代化、有活力、国际贸易型国家。”

　　However, in January this year the organiser of the CES tech fair told the BBC it was "a source of embarrassment" that there was a small British presence at the event compared with other countries.

　　然而在今年一月，国际消费类电子产品展览会组织者兼技术人员告诉BBC，相比较其他国家，来参加展览的英国人非常少，这“就有点儿尴尬了”。

　　More than 177,000 people attended the 2017 gathering in Las Vegas, at which robotics was a theme.

　　超过17.7万人参加了这次于2017年在拉斯维加斯举行的以机器人为主题的集会。

　　The event drew thousands of exhibitors from around the world seeking investment, distribution deals and publicity, but France sent almost five times more tech firms than Britain.

　　这次盛会聚集了全世界无数参展商，他们寻找投资机会，分配交易，同时对外宣传，但是其中法国的科技公司数是英国的五倍之多。

　　Britain’s been a little slow to the game honestly. We have a minister from Britain coming but there’s not a lot of activity that we’ve seen at CES, said Gary Shapiro, president of the Consumer Electronics Association, which organises the event.

　　消费电子产品协会主席Gary Shapiro举办了这次盛会，他说：“实话说，英国在这方面发展得还是很慢。英国部长也来了，但是他在消费电子展上显得不是那么活跃。”

　　A spokeswoman for the UK’s Department for International Trade said at the time that it was keen to support UK robotics companies.

　　英国国际贸易部发言人表示，现如今国家正非常大力地支持英国机器人公司。

　　We want to help UK businesses make the most of trade and investment opportunities including in the US, through targeted support and bespoke business matching that better maximises their presence to win vital contracts abroad, she said.

　　她说：“我们想尽可能地为英国制造与包括美国在内等国家的国际贸易和投资机会，针对性的支持和提前的贸易准备可以最大可能地提高英国在海外贸易合同中的地位。”

（编辑：何莹莹）