UK Innovation Strategy – Manufacturing Technology Centre Response
Today, the UK Government has launched its Innovation Strategy, setting out plans to cement the UK’s position as a world-leader in science, research and innovation.
Below is a statement in response to the strategy from Dr Clive Hickman, Chief Executive of the Manufacturing Technology Centre, and one of the UK’s foremost engineering and manufacturing experts. If a further conversation with Clive would be useful in relation to the announcement or the MTC’s wider work, please do let me know.
Dr Clive Hickman, Chief Executive of the Manufacturing Technology Centre, said:
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“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, 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.”
