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The Unleashing Innovation panel (clockwise from top left):
Andy Wright, BAE Systems; Frances Saunders, Science and
Technology Facilities Council; Justin Mullins, New Scientist;
Chris Skidmore, MP, former Minister for Universities,
Research, Innovation and Skills ; Peter Williams, INEOS
activities either in industry or academia,”
Skidmore says. “It doesn’t matter how much
money we throw at this if we haven’t got
the people on the ground.”
While Brexit makes this a more complex
prospect in the short-term, the UK has long
been part of the European Union’s research
and innovation programme. To maintain
access to the same level of international
financial investment, the government hopes
to continue this after leaving, much like
Switzerland and Israel do now.
Williams also stresses the importance of
working together. “Collaborations are of
fundamental importance. Being competitive
means being able to participate in international
collaborations, so it’s very important to pay
attention to this in the measures we take.”
The private sector will be important too.
“All international companies have a choice
about where to place their research and
development activities, so we need to carefully
examine what makes the UK attractive,” says
Williams. This is where the government needs
to make the UK R&D friendly using tools like a
beneficial taxation regime and R&D credits.
Frances Saunders is a former Chief
Executive of Dstl, the UK Ministry of Defence’s
Science and Technology Laboratory. This
background in the defence sector gives her
some optimism that UK-based researchers
will avoid becoming isolated. Britain has
traditionally been good at defence-related
collaborations with the US, Canada, Australia
and New Zealand, she points out. And
Williams is optimistic too. “Ultimately, if a
strong collaboration makes sense, a way will
be found to make it happen,” he says. “We all
share the same objectives in terms of health
and wellbeing, technology and growing the
digital economy.”
Wright is similarly optimistic about
industry’s proposed role in the new research
plan. He says it asks a lot for industry to inject
such a significant proportion of the cash, but
BAE Systems’ role in developing the Tempest
combat aircraft shows that industry and
government can work well together for
mutual benefit.
“Most of what we rely on in society
depends upon technology,” he says. “For the
UK to maintain jobs and prosperity, we have
to invest in the science that will underpin the
technology we need in the future.” ❚Watch the full debate for
free at https://bit.ly/35TDsJthe says. “That would put the UK at the
forefront of aerospace. We’re already a strong
aerospace nation and this would allow us
to maintain that position.”
Skidmore was also the energy minister
who signed the net zero agreement into law.
He agrees that it provides a useful focus for
future R&D. “It’s a huge task, and we don’t yet
have the technologies to achieve it, but we
have a process in place,” he says.
Making sure talented people are able to
work in the UK will be of paramount
importance to the success of the whole effort.
“We’re going to need around 50,000 extra
individuals performing research-related