About this event
Around the world, countries are doubling down on R&I to fuel economic resilience, technological leadership, and national security. From AI and clean tech to life sciences and advanced manufacturing, global competition for talent, investment and ideas is intensifying.
The UK has set out its ambition to be a science and innovation superpower, backed by reforms to R&I funding and industrial strategy. This session will anchor that direction and ask our panellists: how can we go further to leverage the UK’s unique strengths in AI, clean tech and life sciences to win in a globally competitive landscape?
With the UK’s new 10-year industrial strategy, R&I must be more than a system of discovery – it must become a strategic driver of national outcomes. The strategy highlights long-term investment, innovation and cross-sector collaboration as essential to delivering growth across key industries such as clean energy, AI, life sciences, and advanced manufacturing.
This session will highlight these priorities and recent reforms to how funding is structured. It will explore what more is needed – through collaboration, policy and investment – to accelerate delivery and ensure real-world impact.
Britain is a global leader in scientific discovery and early-stage innovation – but too often, breakthrough ideas struggle to grow into global enterprises. The UK’s scale-up gap risks holding back economic potential, investment returns and national competitiveness.
Recent measures through Innovate UK and the British Business Bank are strengthening the scale-up environment for UK innovators. Building on these reforms, this session will explore what further steps could help high-growth companies move from discovery to global impact. It will ask where we can double down to make the UK the best place in the world to grow innovation-led businesses.
Session 1: Global trends, UK advantage: Harnessing R&I for strategic growth
Speakers:
Carl Ennis, CEO, Siemens UK
Dr Anna Valero, Distinguished Policy Fellow at the Centre for Economic Performance, LSE
Professor Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, University of Birmingham
Naomi Weir, Director of Technology and Innovation, CBI
Liz Rosenthal, CEO, Power to the Pixel
Chair:
Stian Westlake, Executive Chair, Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Read more about the Summit here.
Participants are expected to adhere to the Events Code of Conduct.
This event will take place Off Campus.