Ambitious industrial strategy aims to boost innovation

The government has released its new Industrial Strategy aimed at making the UK “the world’s most innovative nation by 2030”. The white paper from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) includes a range of industry-wide targets, goals and funding, such as increasing research and development investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027, and 3% in the longer term.   Digital technology such as AI and big data are a huge opportunity for manufacturing, and the UK cannot afford to be complacent and miss potential growth, says the strategy. The sector is one of six selected for rapid adoption of AI.The strategy also promises £725m for an innovation-nurturing “challenge fund,” and pledges to prioritise rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). Here’s our rundown of some of the important policies. Digital technology such as AI and big data are a huge opportunity for manufacturing, and the UK cannot afford to be complacent and miss potential growth, says the strategy. The sector is one of six selected for rapid adoption of AI.