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16/02/2009
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Lord Drayson, Minister of State for Science and Innovation, has made it clear that he sees continuing investment in research and development – innovation – to be essential if companies are going to get through the downturn and prosper afterwards
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“Market share is won or lost in a downturn and I believe there are great opportunities,” he said in response to questions from members of the House of Commons’ Innovation, Universities and Skills select committee.
According to Lord Drayson, companies ‘eat their own seed corn’ if they cut down on R&D. “Businesses have to survive and position themselves to grow when the upturn comes – and Government must not cut support for R&D during the downturn.”
This is good news, but not greatly surprising given the Government’s recent run of support for technology. But where should the R&D effort be concentrated? Lord Drayson suggests healthcare, which has been one of the themes promoted by the Technology Strategy Board.
And another obvious target are ‘green’ technologies, important given the Government’s commitment to reducing CO2 emissions substantially over the coming years. “Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 will require a ‘zero base’ to generate electricity,” Lord Drayson remarked. Importantly, he recognised that achieving such targets will not be achieved if left solely to ‘the market’.
These are all examples of targeted research: we know the problems that need to be solved. Untargeted research is equally important as select committee chair Phil Willis noted. “There is a greater return coming from ‘blue sky’ research than from anything else.” Lord Drayson agreed: “Science is unpredictable.”
Science is, indeed, unpredictable. What has been less predictable is the UK’s ability to turn spin outs into larger commercially successful businesses.
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Author
Tom Shelley
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