AIRTO > News > Cross sector call for the UK to be a leading country in the G7 on R&D investment

Cross sector call for the UK to be a leading country in the G7 on R&D investment

Thirty leaders and representatives of the UK’s R&D sector, including AIRTO (Association of Innovation, Research & Technology Organisations), have today issued a joint statement calling for the UK to be a leading country in the G7 on R&D investment and stating our united position on the importance of R&D for the UK.

The statement:

The UK should be a leading country in the G7 on R&D investment

We are united in a belief in the importance of ambitious, long-term, and sustainable investment in Research and Development (R&D) for the future of the United Kingdom. R&D is the foundation upon which the UK’s economic prosperity, well-being, and global competitiveness rest. A sustained increase in government R&D investment creates the stability to pursue big ideas, discoveries, and innovations that improve UK public services and make the world a better place for the next generation.

Such investment will instil confidence in the UK as a place to do business, drive growth, prosperity, and allow the UK to lead on the transition to net zero while tackling threats to health, wellbeing and quality of life across the UK. A majority of the public think that new research has a role to play in solving society’s challenges; 77% say new research is an essential or important part of solving the problem of climate change and 80% for securing the UK’s energy supply and lowering the cost of energy bills.

The UK should be a leading country in the G7 on R&D investment. We want to see political parties commit to investing in and nurturing a culture of research and innovation, ensuring the UK continues to attract private, philanthropic, and charity investment as well as the most talented researchers from around the world.

Authors

About AIRTO
AIRTO is the Association of Innovation, Research and Technology Organisations. Its membership comprises approximately sixty of the principal organisations operating in the UK’s innovation, research and technology (IRT) sector. The IRT sector has a combined turnover of £6.9Bn, employing over 57,000 scientific and technical staff (equivalent to the academic staffing of the Russell Group of universities) and, for comparison, it is significantly larger than the network of Fraunhofer Institutes in Germany both in size and scope of activities. The sector contributes £34Bn to UK GDP. AIRTO’s members work at the interface between academia and industry, for both private and public sector clients in the UK and overseas. Members cover a very wide range of industries from for example, agriculture and food, pharma and bio, energy generation and distribution, manufacturing and the built environment. They may be industry specific or have cross-sectorial expertise. Members include Independence Research and Technology Organisations, Catapult Centres, Public Research Establishments, National Laboratories, university Technology Transfer Offices and privately held innovation organisations.