Professor Oliver Hauser – academic secondment in government

Professor Oliver Hauser shares his experience of a secondment with the Cabinet Office Evaluation Task Force, applying academic expertise to real-world impact.

Professor Oliver Hauser, Cabinet Office Evaluation Task Force

Professor Oliver Hauser, an academic motivated by real-world impact, worked with the Evaluation Task Force on a secondment in the Cabinet Office. Oliver is Professor of Economics at the University of Exeter and is Deputy Director of the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. 

Oliver first worked with the Evaluation Task Force (ETF) as a member of the external advisory panel. Seeking a deeper involvement, he volunteered his time and arranged a 1-day a week secondment with the team. This bespoke arrangement, enabled by flexibility and trust from both sides, allowed Oliver to access government systems and resources, and to embed fully within the team. He reflects:

One of the things I love about being an academic is choosing where to put my time. There are many ways you can make a contribution, by educating or doing research to create new knowledge. My motivation to join the ETF was to support impact in the real world, helping the public sector.

Oliver co-led a cross-government working group that developed an AI checklist for departments, supporting safe and effective adoption of new AI tools. He also worked with the ETF to publish a new annex to the Magenta Book, providing best practice guidance for evaluating the impact of AI interventions. This resource is designed to enhance the safety and confidence with which government departments adopt AI technologies. Oliver has also led workshops and masterclasses on evaluation and AI across several departments in the Civil Service.

Lucie Moore, Head of the Evaluation Task Force, said: