The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology have launched the UK’s Science and Technology Framework, a plan to make the UK a global science and technology superpower by 2030.
The framework consists of 10 key actions aimed at putting the UK at the forefront of global science and technology and fostering the right conditions for industry innovation and scientific research to deliver high-paid jobs of the future and grow the economy. The government will invest over £370 million in new measures to boost innovation, attract talent, and seize the potential of groundbreaking new technologies like AI.
The 10 points of the new Science and Technology Framework include identifying and achieving the strategic advantage in critical technologies, boosting private and public investment in research and development, shaping the global science and tech landscape through international engagement and partnerships, ensuring researchers have access to the best infrastructure and creating a pro-innovation culture throughout the public sector.
The delivery of the new framework will begin immediately with an initial raft of projects worth around £500 million in new and existing funding to help the UK take a global lead in game-changing technologies.
The initial package of projects includes a £250 million investment in AI, quantum technologies, and engineering biology, publication of an independent review of the research, development, and innovation organizational landscape, testing different models of funding science, up to £50 million to spur co-investment in science from the private sector and philanthropists, £117 million of existing funding to create hundreds of new PhDs for AI researchers and £8 million to find the next generation of AI leaders around the world, a £50 million uplift to World Class Labs funding, a £10 million uplift to the UK Innovation and Science Seed Fund, plans to set up an Exascale supercomputer facility and a program to provide dedicated compute capacity for AI research, and £9 million in govt funding to support the establishment of a quantum computing research center by PsiQuantum.
The Prime Minister stated that the more the UK innovates, the more it can grow its economy, create high-paid jobs, protect its security, and improve lives across the country.
The Science, Innovation, and Technology Secretary added that innovation and technology are the keys to raising productivity and wages, transforming healthcare, reducing energy prices, creating jobs and economic growth, and providing the financial firepower for increased spending on public services. The government and its private sector partners will work together to become a scientific and technological superpower to improve the lives of every Briton.
Source: Gov[Dot]UK
