The Competition and Markets Authority is building a new technology team in a bid to keep up with the use of AI, big data and algorithms.
According to the Financial Times, the CMA’s new chief executive Andrea Coscelli, said the team would consist of data scientists, computer experts and economists.
“Some companies have a lot of internal knowledge that we don’t necessarily have … and a lot of [technological changes] are happening very fast,” added Coscelli.
Additionally, the chief went on to note that the CMA needs to boost its ability to handle investigations involving technology, especially if it is to work on “big digital cases” in the aftermath of Brexit.
The watchdog already has a digital forensics unit, but says it wants to improve the way in which it collects and analyses data for investigations.
“If you look at our [case] portfolio now, in many ways we follow the economy and we follow technology.
“Compared to five years ago we do much more work in digital spaces, both on the consumer protection side and the competition side,” Coscelli concluded.
Today’s news comes after the CMA provisionally cleared Just Eat’s acquisition of Hungryhouse following an investigation.