A new Cambridge report highlights key trends across UK industry, explores the country's productivity and global industrial performance, and asks whether enough is being invested in R&D.

By curating these insights, the report provides an honest assessment of UK performance compared with key competitors.

Dr Carlos López-Gómez, Cambridge Industrial Innovation Policy

The UK Innovation Report 2023, compiled by Cambridge Industrial Innovation Policy - based at the University's Institute for Manufacturing - brings together innovation and value-added indicators in a single resource.

Among other analyses, the report looks at whether the UK is producing enough scientists and engineers, and how innovation translates into internationally competitive industries and well-paid jobs.

It also provides deep dives into the food and drinks, and aerospace sectors, offering insights into the structure and performance of these UK industries.

Last year's edition reported a new Innovation Strategy, a new Office for Science and Technology Strategy and a new National Science and Technology Council. This year, the major institutional change has been the ministerial restructure in February 2023. A new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) was created with the mandate to ensure the UK is “the most innovative economy in the world” and a “science and technology superpower”. 

Co-author Dr Carlos López-Gómez, from Cambridge Industrial Innovation Policy, said: "What the report does differently is to bring together multiple different sources of data on innovation – which are often only accessible to specialised audiences and challenging to navigate – in one centralised place.

"By curating these insights, the report provides an honest assessment of UK performance compared with key competitors. It’s designed to provide policymakers with the evidence needed to best promote innovation in industry.

"The report tries to bring attention to the interplay between these innovation inputs and the outcomes from an industrial perspective. This is because the value of our investment in science and technology can only be fully captured if it sustains a competitive and sustainable industry – one that provides well-paid jobs and helps address regional imbalances."

 


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