How can the government help boost growth in the science-based industries?

As part of its mission to make the UK the fastest-growing economy in the G7, the government has embarked upon a new industrial strategy. Science and innovation feature prominently, with life sciences identified as holding “enormous potential to drive economic growth and productivity” in the decades ahead. So how can this potential be fulfilled?

The next few months present a window of opportunity for the business sector, expert organisations and government to work together to devise a long-lasting industrial approach. The Institute for Government is convening a panel of experts to discuss how the government can deliver on its science and industrial strategy objectives.

So what can be done to ensure the new industrial strategy can endure when others have not? Where has science and technology helped drive UK economic growth? What should be the balance between directing science and technology explicitly towards driving UK economic growth versus other objectives like boosting health? And what can the UK learn from other countries? 

We were joined by:

• Johan Kahlström, President & Managing Director UK & Ireland at Novartis Pharmaceuticals
• Lord Vallance, Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation
• Giles Wilkes, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Government
• Amanda Wolthuizen, Vice-President (Strategic Engagement) and Chief of Staff to the President at Imperial College London

The event was chaired by Thomas Pope, Deputy Chief Economist at the Institute for Government.

This event was kindly supported by Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK.

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