Government has announced an initial range of projects worth some £600 million under a Science and Technology Framework that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says is designed to “grow the UK economy, create high-paid jobs of the future, protect our security, and radically improve people’s lives through science, innovation and technology”.
The projects will focus on the development of five ‘critical technologies’ – AI, engineering biology, future telecommunications, semiconductors and quantum technologies.
The plans are backed by over £370m in new government funding to boost infrastructure, investment and skills, with £250m allocated for AI, quantum technologies and engineering biology.
The Framework is the first major initiative from the newly created Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the framework and is to challenge every part of government to deliver on ten ‘key actions’. These include:
- “Identifying, pursuing and achieving strategic advantage in the technologies that are most critical to achieving UK objectives”
- “Boosting private and public investment in research and development for economic growth and better productivity”
- “Financing innovative science and technology start-ups and companies”.
Sunak said:“The more we innovate, the more we can grow our economy, create the high-paid jobs of the future, protect our security, and improve lives across the country.”
Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said: “Innovation and technology are our future. They hold the keys to everything from raising productivity and wages, to transforming healthcare, reducing energy prices and ultimately creating jobs and economic growth in the UK.”
The framework’s initial projects include:
- Publication of Sir Paul Nurse’s Independent Review of the Research, Development and Innovation Organisational Landscape, with recommendations to make the most of the UK’s research organisations
- £117m of existing funding to create hundreds of new PhDs for AI researchers
- A £10m increase to the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund, totalling £50m, to boost the UK’s next tech and science start ups
- Plans to set up an exascale supercomputer facility, which the government hopes could “solve problems as complex as nuclear fusion”.
A £200,000 grant funding competition for cyber-physical infrastructure, such as robotics and digital twins, was also announced. The government also confirmed a further extension to the UK’s Horizon Europe financial guarantees for researchers, until 30 June.