New plans to boost private sector investment to put the UK at the forefront of the global innovation race have been set in a new Innovation Strategy launched by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng today.

The Government’s long-term vision is to put innovation at the heart of ‘building back better’, as a key pillar in its ‘Plan for Growth’. The Innovation Strategy aims to boost private sector investment in R&D across the whole of the UK, and create the right conditions for all businesses to have the confidence to innovate.

The Government says that it is committed to increasing annual public investment on R&D to a record £22 billion, but that the private sector also plays a key role in boosting spending on R&D, which is an essential part of the country’s future prosperity and key to achieving key domestic priorities, from tackling climate change and boosting productivity, to levelling up opportunities across the country and supporting businesses out of the pandemic.

Innovation missions
The Government will specify ‘innovation missions’ to set clear direction, urgency and pace on the issues confronting the UK that it wants to tackle with the private sector in the coming years. These will be determined by the new National Science and Technology Council and supported by the Office for Science and Technology Strategy.

The Government is also outlining seven strategic technologies to prioritise and build on the UK’s existing R&D strengths, including clean technologies, robotics, genomics and artificial intelligence (AI), where it has globally competitive advantage and industrial strength.

The strategy also outlines how the Government will focus its efforts to support businesses and institutions at the cutting edge of innovation.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “The UK can look back on a proud history of changing the world through innovation. From the industrial revolution to the vaccine development of the past year, the impact on our everyday lives is undeniable.

“That spirit of discovery is still alive in this country today, but we have not always turned our genius for innovation into jobs and companies here in Britain. The countries that secure leadership in such 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.

“Through this long-term plan, we want to rekindle our country’s flame of innovation and discovery, helping businesses to seize the vast opportunities that innovation can bring. If we get this right, we can build the foundations for the new industries of tomorrow, and ensure British firms are at the front of the pack to turn world-leading science into new products and services that are successful in international markets.”

Globally competitive R&D
The Strategy identifies areas 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; Robotics and Smart Machines.

Our partners in the innovation system will be critical to delivering our ambitions, and the Business Secretary has asked Innovate UK and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to operationalise this Strategy in order to achieve our shared objectives.

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.

As part of efforts to ensure innovative business across the UK can capitalise on these strengths, five pioneering projects around the UK will receive a share of £127 million through the Strength in Places Fund, delivered by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

In addition to the Strength in Places Fund, £25 million of funding for the Connecting Capability Fund will help drive further economic growth through university-business innovation, and eight new Prosperity Partnerships will establish business-led research projects harnessing the power of science and engineering to develop transformational new technologies that benefit companies, with £59 million of industry, university and Government investment.

Strategic ambitions
Dr Clive Hickman, chief executive of the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), said: “The Government’s Innovation Strategy is an ambitious and exciting step towards cementing the UK’s position as a global scientific superpower. The plans will help the UK build on our excellence in research to meet our strategic ambitions, act as a catalyst to making the UK a global manufacturing powerhouse, and create new high-skilled, high-tech jobs across the country.

“At the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), we know that early investment in tomorrow’s skills, processes and technologies is critical to future-proofing the country’s economy, and empowering us to compete and trade internationally. To realise the strategy’s full potential, and to support our best innovators’ ideas, the UK will need accommodating policies that encourage inventors and researchers to be bold, and which fuel investment in research.

“The Government’s commitment to increasing public investment in R&D to a record £22 billion will play a key part in this, but its proposed changes in how we support and develop transformational technology through education, regulation and procurement will also be vital.

“The right policies will encourage solutions that will help strengthen our national resilience - whether by bolstering our supply chains against future shocks like those we’ve seen during the pandemic, or by helping to meet our net-zero commitments.”

More information on the new Innovation Strategycan be found at the website here.