A NEW five-year development programme by the United Kingdom government aims to make the UK the most attractive place in the world for scientific research.
The Creating Wealth From Knowledge programme drawn up by the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) makes it clear that science, innovation and technology will be the key to the UK's future industrial success.
DTI Secretary of State explained: "The global economic map is being redrawn. China is becoming one of the world's largest economies; India is producing three million highly skilled graduates a year; and Central and Eastern European countries - with wages a fraction of ours - are joining the European Union (EU).
"But Britain is extremely well placed to benefit from this transformation. Building on our strong economic foundations, we propose a new industrial policy built around the knowledge-based economy, high in skills, embracing innovation, science and technology.
And today we are sending a strong signal to scientists around the world that the UK is the place to come to carry out research in leading-edge areas such as nanotechnology and stem cell research."
The programme puts forward a range of policies to help UK business succeed in the global economy. These include strengthening science and boosting innovation, a new multi-million pounds fund for high-profile cross-disciplinary research with potential for breakthroughs in areas likely to help UK public policy and business priorities.
It is also planned to boost research and development spending from 1.9 per cent of national income to 2.5 per cent by 2014, and to help an extra 20,000 firms in the next five years by building on the success of the Manufacturing Advisory Service.
Enterprise will be promoted with more support for small and women-owned businesses, and the establishment of a new award for entrepreneurs together with a new Women's Enterprise Panel.
The government also plans to boost skills by working with employers and unions to raise the proportion of UK young people under 30 achieving skill level 3. There will be new plans to attract global entrepreneurial talent and academic expertise to the UK.
The DTI has also announced a new partnership with industry to improve innovation and competitiveness in the 200 billion pounds UK materials industry that is a vital part of the supply chain for major sectors such as the aerospace, automotive and construction industries.
A new Materials Innovation & Growth team will include representatives from industry, the regions and government, and be led by Mr Wyn Jones, chairman of British Alcan Aluminium. Similar teams have already been established for the automotive, chemicals, environmental equipment and software industries.
‘UNACCEPTABLE’: The foreign ministry said that China’s behavior broke international law, while Johnny Chiang was worried such balloons could be used against Taiwan A suspected Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the US was yesterday condemned by officials in Taipei and sparked calls for the government to plan countermeasures. The Pentagon on Thursday said it had detected a Chinese surveillance balloon flying over the country. Beijing has said the balloon is a civilian meteorological device that drifted into US territory after being blown off course. The National Security Bureau and Ministry of National Defense should investigate whether surveillance balloons could be used against Taiwan and prepare to respond to such acts, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s postponement
INTELLIGENCE VALUE: While the US was working on recovering the balloon’s remains, China said that it reserved ‘the right to make ... necessary responses’ US President Joe Biden’s administration lauded the Pentagon for shooting down an alleged Chinese spy balloon off the US Atlantic coast on Saturday, but China angrily voiced its “strong dissatisfaction” at the move, and said it might make “necessary responses.” The craft spent several days flying over North America before it was targeted off the coast of the southeastern state of South Carolina with a missile fired from an F-22 plane, Pentagon officials said. It fell into relatively shallow water just 14m deep. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called the operation a “deliberate and lawful action” that came in response to China’s
RISK FACTOR: ASEAN issued a statement saying the cross-strait situation ‘could lead to miscalculation,’ but it is willing to facilitate dialogue to ensure stability in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday welcomed a joint statement by ASEAN leaders voicing concerns that the situation across the Taiwan Strait could affect regional stability. The statement was issued after the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat ended on Saturday in Jakarta. It was the first major meeting since Indonesia assumed chairmanship of ASEAN this year. Attendees of the meeting reiterated their determination to promote “sustainable peace, security, stability, and prosperity within and beyond the region,” the statement said. They expressed concerns about developments across the Taiwan Strait and their “implications on regional stability,” the statement said. The cross-strait situation “could lead to miscalculation, serious
THINK TANK VISIT: The former US Indo-Pacific official said that a capture of Taiwan’s outlying islands by China rather than a large-scale attack is a grave security concern The US and Taiwan can deepen their relations on many fronts, former head of the US Indo-Pacific Command Philip Davidson said yesterday while visiting President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the Presidential Office. Davidson is leading a six-member delegation from the National Bureau of Asian Research, a US-based think tank. They arrived on Monday and are scheduled to depart tomorrow. Tsai met with the delegation yesterday morning, welcoming the organization on its first visit to Taiwan since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the office said in a statement. She thanked Davidson, a retired admiral, for paying close attention to matters regarding the Taiwan