UK industrial strategy establishes bold vision, funding commitments

The United Kingdom government recently released a new industrial strategy that outlines a number of striking commitments. These include a plan to increase R&D spending from 1.7 percent to 2.4 percent of GDP, £406 million for STEM training, £1 billion for network infrastructure and a new £2.5 billion investment fund. Like many similar U.S. state industrial reports, the UK paper clarifies its intention to focus its investments in key sectors, namely: artificial intelligence and data, clean energy, mobility/transportation and the “needs of an aging society.” Demonstrating its support for the new strategy, the government has made several announcements aligning with the document over the past week, including an investment in a battery facility, a life sciences public-private investment plan, a joint research-industry challenge fund and more.