Can the government make the UK a science superpower?

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee is conducting an inquiry into the UK’s research and innovation system and whether it can deliver the government’s ambition to become a science superpower.

The CBI responded to this inquiry to ensure the UK’s research and innovation system is conducive to business investment and engagement. In our response we set out four overarching priorities:

1. Bold strategy and investment: swift delivery of government strategies and roll-out of long-term public R&D spending to provide a stable direction for business to invest in the government’s science and innovation ambitions
2. A more visible and navigable RDI landscape: there must be better navigability and visibility of the research and innovation ecosystem and funding mechanisms for business
3. Support for business innovation: focus on supporting and incentivising innovation, sustaining underpinning research ecosystem strengths, and growing investment and support for the development and adoption phases of innovation
4. Harness levers: BEIS must work across government to ensure levers are aligned to deliver on the various strategies government have produced, from procurement and trade deals to skills, regulation, and taxation.

Key recommendations:

• Fast paced delivery coupled with strategic join up of all government strategies
• Innovate UK to develop a Shop Front online platform to make the RDI ecosystem more visible and navigable, providing support for business from end-to-end
• A long-term calendar of R&I funding opportunities published on the Shop Front, aligned with strategic priorities and key tech families enabling businesses to allocate resources to long term innovation
• BEIS and UKRI to take a risk-based, proportionate approach to research bureaucracy, taking a portfolio approach to success measures. Complexity of funding applications, reporting requirements and monitoring should be proportionate to quantum of funding
• HMT to ensure fiscal incentives for innovation are attractive and internationally competitive. The CBI continues to engage on the review of the R&D tax credits system. As it continues, we wou