For a good strategy, we must face the reality of the British economy. We are not in Germany with a focus on manufacturing. 80% of the UK economy is service.Many of the major sectors such as finance, law, design and the creative economy are focusing on more. intangible Know-how and branded products. Current thinking about innovation may not seem to be progressing to reflect this.

The UK R & D tax credit specifically excludes research in the field of shapes (social sciences, humanities, humanities, economics). The OECD Frascati Manual, used to standardize the collection of R & D statistics, Its R & D may include engineering and clinical trials as well as behavioral science, economics, history, or design. Indeed, corporate research on issues such as artificial intelligence, data science, and behavioral science is increasingly interdisciplinary. It’s time to reform the R & D tax credits to be in line with modern business practices. Similarly, intellectual property systems need to be reviewed to fit into the service economy.

Britain’s success in vaccine development provides lessons. Innovation can occur quickly, but it requires a strong foundation of research and skills. The government has promised to increase R & D investment to 2.4% of the OECD average GDP by 2027.

This is necessary, but not enough. It is not a linear process from basic research to commercialization. Not all universities are well prepared to effectively commercialize their research, and companies may find it difficult to engage in them. We need better incentives to put them together.

Innovation strategies need to think not only about the supply side of research, but also about the demand side of those who bring new products to market. Vaccine developers were market-guaranteed through contracts arranged and supported by the United Kingdom. Novovax, With manufacturing and clinical trials. Where else can you use public sourcing to create an early market that helps speed up the development and capture of new products and services?

It’s important to remember that innovation isn’t just about waving into the tech sector and making heavy use of the phrase “machine learning.” What we really need to innovate is often rejected as a relatively unattractive sector stuck in low-wage, low-skilled work cycles such as retail and hospitality.

Innovation is not limited to business.As recently Review According to the British Academy show, many of the problems we face as a post-pandemic country are both economic and social. The pandemic exacerbated inequality, left a legacy of mental health problems, and raised a variety of policy issues regarding how to organize city centers, working life, and transportation systems. Over the next decade, in addition to business innovation, civil society and policy makers will need social innovation. New strategies miss tricks if you forget this.

In recent years, Brexit, pandemics, and policy changes have made the production environment enthusiastic. Senior government officials said they wanted to sustain their innovation strategy for more than a decade. I asked which of the policy frameworks of the coalition government 10 years ago is still in place. I met silence. Industrial strategy It’s been in fashion for a while, but now it’s gone.

The business and research community needs stability to plan and invest. So the question is how to ensure that the new innovation strategy will last for more than a few years. Ironically, innovation requires some certainty.