The Chancellor’s announcements made in the 2020 Budget set out record spending – rising to £22 billion a year by 2024/5 – to help position the UK as a science and innovation superpower, and were widely welcomed across the R&D landscape as an effective means of boosting and levelling-up economic growth.

In the spirit of “Building back better” post-pandemic, the science and innovation community is eager to see the government deliver on these commitments and reflect R&D as a priority area in the forthcoming 2020 Comprehensive Spending Review by retaining the levels of research activity pledged to our publicly funded institutions, as well as investing more in development activities and innovation.

This joint webinar from AIRTO and UKSPA provided an opportunity for dialogue on a number of crucial issues relating to lifting investment in R&D. Leading speakers from within the R&D ecosystem discussed how to stimulate R&D for a greener, cleaner and sustainable future post Covid-19.

Please click here to view the presentation

Co – Chair: Steve Yianni, Vice President, AIRTO and Patrick Bonnett, Director and Vice Chairman, UKSPA

Speakers included:

James Tooze, Policy Officer, Campaign for Science & Engineering

Lee Hopley, Deputy Director for Research Partnerships, Enterprise Research Centre

Dan Cochlin, Head of external Affairs, Norther Powerhouse Partnership

Colette Cohen, CEO, The Oil & Gas Technology Centre

Iain Simpson, Chairman, R&D Society