- Royal Academy of Engineering position paper outlines principles for a new approach to deliver positive outcomes for the UK through science, engineering and technology
- Science, engineering and technology will play a critical role in the nation’s future, but tough choices need to be made and followed up by action, according to engineering leaders
Science, engineering and technology can no longer be considered in isolation due to its critical and integral role in determining the UK’s future, according to a new position paper, Strategic advantage through science and technology: the engineering view, published by the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Following recent developments from the government to achieve its Science Superpower and Innovation Nation ambitions, including the new Science and Technology Framework and Integrated Review Refresh, the Academy has identified six principles for policymakers to enable science and technology to deliver positive outcomes for the UK’s people and environment, security, prosperity, resilience, and international influence.
The six principles that must underpin a new approach to achieving strategic advantage through science and technology are:
- Long-term
- Longer-term planning beyond political and budget cycles is important to provide the stability needed for the UK’s research and innovation system to thrive. The Aerospace Growth Partnership and Aerospace Technology Institute is an example of a strategic priority delivered through long-term funding commitments.
- Agility and pace
- The UK needs to be able to act at pace and modify priorities when needed. Long-term investment often underpins the ability to change course and respond rapidly, as the UK’s long-term research into vaccines proved when COVID-19 emerged.
- Leadership and capability
- Trusted and capable leadership is needed to deliver strategic advantage through science and technology. Government must own this agenda as custodians of the nation’s ambitions, ideally with cross-party engagement. However, non-political and expert leadership will also be key when it comes to delivery, as was the case with the COVID-19 Vaccine Taskforce.
- Connections and networks
- Well-connected stakeholder communities with improved interfaces between government, business and the research and innovation sector are needed to support informed decision-making.
- Coherence
- Extensive engagement and alignment across government departments and agencies, and significant industry input, including from the engineering community, will be required.
- Action
- Developing strategies or new lists of priority technologies will not effect change if there is no action. Choices will need to be made about where to pursue strategic advantage and intervention and resources will need to follow.
Crucially, these principles will depend on a well-resourced and connected research and innovation system, combined with a strategic direction and plan for delivery.
However, achieving strategic advantage through science and technology will also require radical change to the UK’s existing approaches. Innovation policy needs to be integral to and joined-up across all government departments. Timely public sector interventions will be required to manage the risks associated with late-stage R&D as innovations get ‘close to the market’. Creative and coordinated action with follow-on funding, infrastructure, manufacturing, procurement, standards and regulation, and adoption are vital.
Dr Dame Frances Saunders DBE CB FREng, Chair of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Strategic Advantage working group, said:
“Critical advances in engineering, science and technology have the potential to deliver tangible, real-world benefits to society. But the UK needs long-term strategic direction and planning supported by action to achieve its national ambitions and to adapt to new technologies and circumstances in an ever-changing world. There will inevitably be tough choices that need to be made to balance strategic priorities with the various tensions and trade-offs that arise. We hope that the principles reflected in the Academy’s position paper offer useful guidance for future strategic direction in science and technology from an engineering perspective, as the strategic choices that lie ahead require the voice of engineers.”
Professor Dame Helen Atkinson DBE FREng, member of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Strategic Advantage working group, said:
“With the government having recently defined the five critical technologies for the UK’s future success in innovation, and the launch of the National Quantum Strategy and accompanying infrastructure review being undertaken by the Royal Academy of Engineering, this position paper comes during a time of continued national focus on science and technology. The UK now needs to build on its previous successes in cross-community engagement and partnerships between the government, industry and R&D sector to deliver the societal benefits that can be achieved through engineering innovation.”
Notes for editors
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