What is the UK R&D Roadmap?

What does the R&D roadmap include?

The UK R&D Roadmap is broad in scale, covering multiple goals across multiple sectors of the economy. In brief, these goals cover the following.

• Increasing public investment in Research & Development
• Securing more economic and social benefits that come from research
• Giving greater support for start-ups and entrepreneurs carrying out R&D
• Developing and retaining a diverse and talented R&D workforce
• Improving research collaboration between funders, researchers, practitioners, and civic leaders to improve local outcomes from R&D
• Providing “long-term flexible investment” into institutions and infrastructure
• Strengthening international R&D partnerships
• Engaging in new ways to ensure science and technology adapts to the changing needs and aspirations of the UK

This is an ambitious and far-reaching set of objectives, and the UK R&D roadmap explains how the government will attempt to make them a reality.

“Raising research ambitions”

A series of objectives are laid out in the government’s proposals, outlining what the government plans to do reach its wider R&D goals.

• Incentivising innovation by providing the most effective types of funding and management
• More effectively supporting applied research
• Taking “bigger bets” on research programs that is areas considered “genuinely transformational”
• Improving engagement with people across the UK
• Using “Horizon Scanning” to identify and greater exploit emerging strengths
• Improving approaches to funding with “minimal red tape”
• Improving international R&D collaboration mechanisms
• Removing existing barriers to interdisciplinary research

Improving the UK’s R&D talent pool

A major step in the government’s R&D roadmap is to try and ensure the UK is a world leader for talented people working in R&D.

This would include attracting talented and experienced people from overseas and being able to train and retain top-class R&D professionals and teams from the UK. The roadmap also includes a target for greater diversity and inclusion within R&D.

Existing barriers to this goal, as cited in the roadmap, include challenges relating to funding and uncompetitive salaries, and difficulties faced by international entrepreneurs and researchers wanting to carry out their work in the UK.

Improving R&D productivity

Next, the R&D roadmap sets out its goals in “driving up innovation and productivity”. A key challenge highlighted is the lower levels of R&D activity in business when compared to competitor countries.

In order to improve R&D productivity, the government has set out the following objectives:

• Make sure R&D rules and regulations promote innovation, competition, and diffusion
• Leverage the economic and social benefits of R&D
• Enhance the UK’s existing innovation infrastructure
• Highlight key voices that speak out in favour of innovation
• Improve demand for innovation through policy and incentives

“Levelling up” R&D in the UK

The government’s ‘Levelling Up’ plans have been widely discussed in political news, and these plans include ambitions around improving R&D across the whole country. Certain areas of the UK have much greater relative R&D investment than others, and these areas benefit from more intensive R&D.

As part of the ‘Levelling Up’ agenda, the government aims to improve R&D investment and expenditure in areas outside of the current R&D hotspots.

Improving international R&D collaboration

International collaboration is another key area of the R&D roadmap, and the government wants the UK to benefit from international partnerships with a wide range of countries at differing stages of economic development.

The planned actions to improve this area include new funding approaches and strengthening existing overseas collaborations, while protecting the UK’s own IP, personal data, and sensitive research.

Improving R&D infrastructure and institutions

The UK has a wealth of innovative people and organisations, with extensive collective experience and success in R&D across multiple sectors. In order to further improve R&D in the UK, the government aims to significantly improve R&D infrastructure and institutions.

This includes plans to improve long-term investment in infrastructure, improving sustainability, greater investment in sought after skills (including data science) and improving digital research capability, such as data, software, and computing.

Improve R&D decision making

A final major area of the R&D roadmap of the UK relates to strategic decision making. The whitepaper cites systemic challenges relating to what it calls “unnecessary bureaucracy” and “risk averse” attitudes that cause inefficiencies. The government states that “It can take too long for funding or approvals decisions to be made, slowing and frustrating the discovery process.”

The roadmap’s aims include “minimising bureaucracy”, improving collaboration across institutions, and making greater use of PSREs (Public Sector Research Establishments).