Rt Hon Greg Clark MP
Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
With the aim of making the UK the world’s most innovative nation, the government has committed to a £725 million investment, over the next three years, in the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
Last Monday (27th November), Business Secretary, Greg Clark, launched the government’s ambitious Industrial Strategy: setting out a long-term vision for how Britain can build on its economic strengths, address its productivity performance, embrace technological change and boost the earning power of people across the UK.
With the aim of making the UK the world’s most innovative nation by 2030, the government has committed to investing a further £725 million over the next three years in the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) to respond to some of the greatest global challenges and the opportunities faced by the UK. This will include £170 million to transform our construction sector and help create affordable places to live and work that are safer, healthier and use less energy, and up to £210 million to improve early diagnosis of illnesses and develop precision medicine for patients across the UK.
The way we earn and live our lives as workers, citizens and consumers is being transformed by new technologies.
The government has previously committed £1 billion to the first wave of Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund projects, including investing £246 million in next generation battery technology and £86 million in robotics hubs across the UK.
The Prime Minister has since announced an ambition to increase the level of investment in research and development (R&D), rising from 1.7 per cent to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027. This could mean around £80 billion of additional investment in advanced technology in the next decade, helping to transform whole sectors, create new industries, and support innovation across the country.
The White Paper also confirms government will be pressing ahead with a series of Sector Deals with construction, life sciences, automotive and AI the first to benefit from these new strategic and long-term partnerships with government, backed by private sector co-investment. Work will continue with other sectors on transformative sector deals.
In the strategy, the government has identified four Grand Challenges; global trends that will shape our rapidly changing future and which the UK must embrace to ensure we harness all the opportunities they bring:
- artificial intelligence – we will put the UK at the forefront of the artificial intelligence and data revolution
- clean growth – we will maximise the advantages for UK industry from the global shift to clean growth
- ageing society – we will harness the power of innovation to help meet the needs of an ageing society
- future of mobility – we will become a world leader in the way people, goods and services move
Each Grand Challenge represents an open invitation to business, academia and civil society to work and engage with the government to innovate, develop new technologies and ensure the UK seizes these global opportunities.
Business Secretary, Greg Clark, said: “The way we earn and live our lives as workers, citizens and consumers is being transformed by new technologies. The UK is well-placed to benefit from this new industrial revolution and we start from a position of significant strength. We have a thriving research and science base and are home to a wide range of innovative sectors, from advanced manufacturing and life sciences, to fintech and creative industries.
The Industrial Strategy is an unashamedly ambitious vision for the future of our country.
“The Industrial Strategy is an unashamedly ambitious vision for the future of our country, laying out how we tackle our productivity challenge, earn our way in the future, and improve living standards across the country.”
The strategy unveiled reflects this engagement, with a new and unique partnership between government, academia and industry, supported by policies that are committed to making the UK economy more productive and giving it a competitive edge in the future and abroad.
The White Paper focusses on the five foundations of productivity – ideas, people, infrastructure, business environment and places – with a clear and complementary vision for each.
For the full version please visit – https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/662508/industrial-strategy-white-paper.pdf