Seizing real opportunity for positive change

Over the last year, CaSE has been convening its members and the R&D sector to think about a future vision for UK R&D. We believe that the sector and the Government must take a longer-term, strategic view. In a changed and changing world we need to answer the question: How can the sector better position itself to meet future economic, societal and strategic challenges?

‘Reimagining R&D’, published earlier this year, sets out the sector’s view on what the R&D system should look like in 2045. On the back of this report, CaSE carried out a deeper exploration through a series of roundtables with our members and the sector. The conversations considered the current policy environment, where we are now, and what is needed to take things forward.

How to get there

Each discussion over the summer considered a different dimension of a positive future R&D system, considering how to get to a 2045 that is characterised by:

1. Economic and societal benefit, and public involvement – how R&D can build and maintain public trust by becoming more inclusive, transparent and responsive to society.

2. Open innovation and collaboration between the public and private sectors – the need for stronger collaboration infrastructure, greater investment in scale-ups and clearer pathways through the innovation system. The briefing can be read here.

3. Strong national capability, sovereignty and international strategy – the strategic choices needed to strengthen the UK’s R&D base while maintaining trusted international collaboration. The briefing can be found here.

The conversations CaSE had with roundtable participants and the input we received were highly informative. Although many threads emerged, there was also significant alignment across the topics. We have distilled this into four actions to get to a more resilient future across these different areas. These are actions the sector and the Government can already be taking:

• Nurture and strengthen the foundations of the R&D base,
• Provide sustained support and continuity,
• Prioritise and be more strategic to compete globally,
• Make the R&D sector more visible and clearer about its value.

Nurture and strengthen the foundations of the R&D base

In the short term, the Government and funders need to nurture the foundations to ensure the sustainability of the sector. The financial sustainability of the R&D sector is essential to the success of the industrial strategy and the long-term vision for UK R&D. Without a stable funding base, universities and research organisations will struggle to invest in new capabilities, support innovation and contribute to the UK’s soft power ambitions. Clearer policies that recognise and support institutional diversity would make more effective use of public investment and allow universities and research organisations to work to their strengths. As well as this, clearer policies also need to be developed that recognise that research and development can operate independently of each other – with different purposes, incentives, and timescales.

Provide sustained support and continuity 

The R&D system being fragmented and constantly experiencing changing policy and funding landscapes inhibits the achievements of the sector. Long-term funding and sustained support are needed from the Government and funders to achieve all the themes of the vision – whether it be for long-term community partnerships, devolved funding or longer-term funding cycles and sustained infrastructure for strategic capability of the R&D sector. A more joined up approach that provides a single front door into the innovation system would help businesses and organisations navigate the landscape of support.

Prioritise and be more strategic to compete globally

The UK should be more strategic about its research strengths to drive business investment, compete globally, and build the international partnerships needed to strengthen R&D.

This work has highlighted that the UK needs to decide what it is good at (this can be achieved through methods such as capability mapping and longitudinal evaluation), whilst also having a more coordinated cross-government approach.

An international R&D strategy would help the UK rebuild and deepen relationships with the European Union, develop and strengthen strategic links with emerging economies, and sustain the long-term partnerships needed to strengthen the R&D sector.

The R&D sector needs to be more visible and clearer about its value

A more visible R&D sector that highlights its value more clearly will be essential to reach the vision for R&D in 2045.

One of the challenges facing the sector currently is the need to sustain public and political support for R&D investment. CaSE’s public opinion research consistently finds that support for Government investment in R&D is broad but shallow. While R&D has benefited from broad cross-party support in recent decades, this consensus should not be assumed to be permanent, and there is a risk to political buy-in if public support weakens.

The R&D sector must build broader and more durable public and political support. The Government and the sector need to align around a clearer, more coherent, cross-sector narrative of how R&D delivers both economic and societal value. This requires demonstrating how R&D is tackling the issues the public cares about, both on a local and wider, societal level. This also means engaging with a wider range of communities, using trusted and accessible channels, and being clearer about how research delivers economic and societal benefits across different places and groups.

What is CaSE doing next?

This work’s overarching look at some of the big issues facing the sector, now and in the future, has been of great use to CaSE and our decisions about where to focus next.

One of the first examples of this is CaSE’s recently published R&D in a shifting voter landscape report. It has explored domestic political fragmentation and what this could mean for the future of R&D advocacy. It provides a deeper look at public attitudes to R&D within the voting system, helping us to further identify and understand the underlying barriers and opportunities that the R&D system faces about public trust, support, and understanding of R&D.

The shifting geopolitical landscape has also emerged as a priority issue facing the sector. An emergent multipolar world and rising global competition increase the pressure to secure advantage and protect critical technologies, infrastructure and talent. There is uncertainty around the future of global research collaboration and how to balance this with rising appetite for sovereign capability. CaSE is planning to explore this issue in more detail through a project looking at international research collaboration and what this looks like in the new geopolitical era. It will examine the issues raised around sovereign capability, international collaboration and the UK’s role in a global R&D system.