UK government to consult on proposed industrial strategy with heavy emphasis on science, research and innovation

The UK government is launching a public consultation with the release of a green paper on industrial strategy aimed at increasing productivity and competitiveness at a time when the dominant financial services sector enters a period of uncertainty as the country prepares to leave the European Union. The aim is to establish a “coherent framework for industrial strategy across all sectors”, according to the 132-page document, by identifying 10 pillars that will be targeted flexibly within strengthened partnerships between government, industry and academia.

[rs_quote credit="Greg Clark" source="UK Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy"]If other countries invest more in research and development, and we do not, then we cannot expect to keep, let alone extend, our technological lead in key sectors – or the world-beating performance of our universities. The same goes for our record as Europe’s leading destination for inward investment or our position as a centre of international finance.[/rs_quote]

While the UK economy has grown 14% since 2010, like Canada it has a substantial productivity gap with the US and was hit harder than other countries by the 2008 recession. The UK also has “significant disparities” in economic performance and a widening productivity gap with most regions falling below the national average.

Respondents have until April 17^th to comment on Building Our Industrial Strategy, which aims to counter uneven economic growth with an emphasis on local innovative strengths and a focus on sectors where Britain already does well or can lead in emerging areas such as robotics and low-emission vehicles.

The paper has a heavy emphasis on science, research and innovation with a commitment to:

• invest £4.7 billion (Cdn$7.8 billion) in R&D by FY20-21;
• create UK Research and Innovation to connect the granting councils with later-stage innovation funding;
• establish new research funding streams outside of the Golden Triangle (London, Oxford, Cambridge);
• deliver sector-specific funding to support business investment in R&D;
• create an Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund in robotics, clean energy and biotechnology;
• increase the effectiveness of R&D investment through improved commercialization and intellectual property policies; and,
• develop a capital spending roadmap to provide research infrastructure support.

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