Policy paper

International comparative evidence on the performance of the UK’s science and innovation system: project description

Published 17 October 2013

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

1. Context and rationale for the project

On many measures, the UK is a global leader in science and innovation. Given the overall fiscal context, the recent Spending Round settlement maintained a reasonable level of public investment in this area. However, the world around us is not standing still, so we need to understand how to maintain and grow the UK’s leadership.

Within the Department for Business (BIS), we have started to consider what may be needed longer-term in terms of the shape/scale of the UK’s science and innovation system. The Knowledge and Innovation Group in BIS is building up a programme of work and engagement, drawing on the knowledge and insights of representative external bodies and stakeholders (across higher education, science, research, innovation and business communities) seeking over the next 12 months or so to co-develop this into a shared vision for the future of the UK’s Innovation Infrastructure (HE, research and innovation), with all that means for the economy and society.

As an early input into this process, BIS has commissioned an internal project to gather and synthesise international comparative evidence on how the UK’s science and innovation system performs, including its impact on the economy.

2. Project aim, approach and end product

The aim of the project is to provide an easily accessible evidence base and synthesis to feed into and shape the broader programme of work and engagement led by the BIS Knowledge and Innovation Group. The science and innovation system is highly complex and this project will help pinpoint those areas that are priorities for attention.

In this context, we have articulated the ‘exam question’ this project will aim to address as follows:

‘What does international comparative evidence tell us about the key challenges we need to address in order to maintain and develop the UK’s global leadership position in science and innovation?’

More detail on the sub-questions we will explore is provided below. The first phase of the project is intentionally wide in scope, in order to identify areas of focus that are most likely to be fruitful and add to what is already known. The prioritisation of issues to focus on will be based on both desk research and discussions with key experts.

We will share the emerging evidence in a series of round-tables before the end of the year. We aim to publish the synthesis and findings in January 2013. Given that the project is feeding into a wider programme of work, the output will not be in the form of recommendations. Rather, we will provide a summary diagnostic, recommended areas for attention, and ideas from other countries which are worth considering in the UK.

3. Questions the project will explore in its first phase

In order to address the exam question above, we will use the first phase of the project to gain insights into the following sub-questions:

• What are the aspects of the science and innovation system that will be most important for the UK’s economic success in the next 10-20 years? How is this similar or different to the current situation?
• What can we learn from other comparable countries in the world who are currently leaders in science and innovation? Which countries are most interesting and/or important to look at?
• What hypotheses about the UK’s strengths and weaknesses should we investigate further? What has been overlooked it the past? What myths would benefit from being ‘busted’?
• How should we measure global leadership, or performance, in science and innovation, in order to identify the most crucial interconnections between inputs, outputs and outcomes?

It is of course possible, and even likely, that our analysis and expert interviews identify different and more specific questions to address. The list above is therefore a starting point which we will refine as part of the process.