Industrial Strategy launched to boost economy

The Business Secretary has launched the government’s flagship Industrial Strategy with a plan to boost the economy, build on the country’s strengths and embrace the opportunities of technological change.

With the aim of making the UK the world’s most innovative nation by 2030, the government has committed to investing £725 million over the next three years in the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) to respond to some of the greatest global challenges and the opportunities faced by the UK.

This will include £170 million to transform the construction sector and help create affordable places to live and work that are safer, healthier and use less energy, and up to £210 million to improve early diagnosis of illness and develop precision medicine for patients across the UK.

This investment will support a new world-leading life sciences discovery research facility in the UK, supporting 950 jobs.

The government has previously committed £1 billion to the first wave of Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund projects, including investing £246 million in the next generation battery technology and £86 million in robotics hubs across the UK.

In the strategy, the government identified four Grand Challenges - global trends that will shape the future and which the UK must embrace to ensure we harness all the opportunities they bring, including: artificial intelligence, clean growth, ageing society, and future of mobility.

Each Grand Challenge represents an open invitation to business, academia and civil society to work and engage with the government to innovate, develop new technologies and ensure the UK seizes these global opportunities.

Greg Clark, Business Secretary, said: “The way we earn and live our lives as workers, citizens and consumers is being transformed by new technologies. The UK is well-placed to benefit from this new industrial revolution and we start from a position of significant strength. We have a thriving research and science base and are home to a wide range of innovative sectors, from advanced manufacturing and life sciences, to fintech and creative industries.

“The Industrial Strategy is an unashamedly ambitious vision for the future of our country, laying out how we tackle our productivity challenge, earn our way in the future, and improve living standards across the country.”