New report from the National Engineering Policy Centre
- Wednesday May 5, 2021
The IHE supports the new report from the National Engineering Policy Centre, published on 28th April 2021 and led by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
The report concludes that a future as a science and innovation superpower is achievable but only with greater and more targeted government policies and support.
The report warns that the government’s ambitions for the UK to be a leading global innovation-driven low-carbon economy are likely to fail unless it makes the UK a more attractive place for businesses to invest in and carry out late-stage research and development (R&D).
Late-stage R&D is a key part of the innovation process and accounts for the majority of R&D that businesses do. It is how they take a proof of concept or prototype through to commercial application, ultimately delivering new and improved products, processes, technologies and services to market and creating jobs in the process.
Late-stage R&D: business perspectives argues that the socio-economic benefits that result from late-stage R&D mean that there is a compelling case for the public sector to support it. The UK government also needs to improve incentives for business investment in late-stage R&D if it is to achieve its stated target of investing 2.4% of GDP into R&D by 2027 and 3% in the longer term, the report recommends. Private sector businesses currently contribute approximately two thirds of the UK’s R&D investment, much of it in late-stage R&D. To achieve its targets and avoid the looming shortfall in investment of around £20 billion, government must encourage businesses to invest a lot more in R&D, and quickly.
You can view the full report here.