UK’s innovation strategy to specify ‘missions’ and ‘strategic tech’

The UK government has launched a new Innovation Strategy aiming to “put innovation at the heart of growth”, which will include “innovation missions” identified by science and technology advisers to the prime minister.

The Innovation Strategy, announced on 22 July, succeeds the short-lived Industrial Strategy drawn up under the Theresa May government. It is billed as helping to drive the government’s aim for levelling up in the UK regions and post-pandemic recovery.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said the strategy would be key as the government implements its pledge to boost research and development spending to £22 billion, but would also aim to drive private sector investment in R&D.

Within the strategy, the government will specify “innovation missions” to “set clear direction, urgency and pace on the issues confronting the UK that we want to tackle with the private sector in the coming years”, BEIS said. These will be determined by the new National Science and Technology Council, a plan for which was recently announced by Boris Johnson, and supported by the Office for Science and Technology Strategy.

The government is also outlining seven “strategic technologies” to prioritise where the UK “has globally competitive R&D and industrial strength and that will transform our economy in the future”: advanced materials and manufacturing; AI, digital and advanced computing; bioinformatics and genomics; engineering biology; electronics, photonics and quantum; energy and environment technologies; and robotics and smart machines.

Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, has asked Innovate UK and UK Research and Innovation to “operationalise” the strategy.

The government will “work with universities and other research organisations, charities, Catapults, public sector research establishments and research and innovation institutes who will all play a key role in implementation of the strategy”, BEIS said.

Five projects will receive a share of £127 million through UKRI’s Strength in Places Fund, including £22.6 million for an advanced machinery and productivity initiative in the north of England.

The strategy sets out plans in four areas:

• “unleashing business”, by “fuelling businesses who want to innovate by ensuring effective access to private and public investment”
• “people”, creating “the most exciting place in the world for talented innovators”
• “institutions and places”, ensuring R&D institutions “serve the needs of businesses and promoting innovation in places across the UK”
• “missions and technologies”, “stimulating innovation in technology and missions that will provide the UK with a strategic advantage and will be critical to tackling some of our greatest challenges”.

Mr Kwarteng said countries that lead in “transformational technologies will lead the world, enjoying unrivalled growth, security and prosperity for decades to come – and it’s our job to ensure the UK keeps pace with the global innovation race”.

Tim Bradshaw, chief executive of the Russell Group, said: “In the government’s new strategy, we welcome the emphasis on innovation funds like Connecting Capabilities and Strength in Places, which help boost university-business collaboration and support innovative businesses across the UK to capitalise on emerging technologies in areas of national importance. Looking ahead to the CSR [comprehensive spending review] scaling up these types of innovation schemes should be a priority.”

He added: “We hope the government will also take the opportunity to help unlock the potential of the UK’s regions by supporting existing and new regional innovation clusters with research-intensive universities at their heart, which have proven success in bringing high-skilled jobs and investment to all regions of the country.”

john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com