Independent report

Safety Tech Challenge Fund round 2 evaluation

An independent evaluation of the second round of the Safety Tech Challenge Fund, which focused on tackling link sharing of child sexual abuse material.

• From: Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
• Published: 10 October 2024

Documents

Safety Tech Challenge Fund round 2 evaluation

PDF, 756 KB, 54 pages

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Details

The second round of the Safety Tech Challenge Fund commenced in June 2023, led by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and managed by Innovate UK.

Three companies received grants to create tools to detect or block links to child sexual abuse material.

In February 2024, DSIT commissioned PUBLIC to evaluate the second round of the fund, both in terms of how it was run and the tools produced by the grant recipients.

The evaluation found that the funded projects developed new and potentially impactful technologies, meeting the fund’s goals. However, more of a focus on technical development in the competition phase of the fund and improved collaboration between grant recipients and government partners could enhance future funds.

Published 10 October 2024