Technology foresight : first report. Volume II, Minutes of evidence and appendices / Science and Technology Committee.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology
Date:
1995
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: Technology foresight : first report. Volume II, Minutes of evidence and appendices / Science and Technology Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    24 October 1995] [Continued Science and Technology advice, particularly where it concerns the equipment programme, as well as looking at wealth creation and the maintenance of the UK defence industrial base. The OST welcomes this development. Further to this, the MOD intends to launch a programme, under the provisional title Beacon, to encourage greater international collaboration, primarily in Europe, involving both government and industry. Second, the Joint Working Forum on Civil/Defence Collaboration meets regularly to assess the scope for collaborative projects which might respond to Foresight priorities. The full terms of reference for this Group are at Annex F. In addition, MOD has for some time held regular meetings for the major defence suppliers at which likely future trends in technology requirements are reviewed. Other collaborative initiatives include the Civil Aeronautics Research and Development (CARAD) programme, Pathfinder, Strategic Alignment, Dual Use Technology Centres and DERA support to Industry. THE SCIENCE BASE 28. We recommend that the Higher Education Funding Councils address how the funding allocated to different subject areas (at present largely driven by historical factors) should be adjusted to reflect Foresight findings and the real cost of supporting Foresight priority areas. 29. We recommend that the Funding Councils consider whether the other components of their funding formulae could be better used to reward and encourage academic researchers who take forward Foresight findings, and promote collaboration with industry, between departments and between universities. 30. We recommend that Funding Councils consider how the capital funds which they allocate should be used more selectively to respond to Foresight findings; and 31. We further recommend that Funding Councils fully assess the skilled manpower implications of the Foresight analyses. 32. We recommend that a main focus should be in support of innovative research, discovery and international excellence whether in basic, strategic or applied areas. 33. We recommend that the Technology Foresight priorities should be integrated by the Councils into their decision making processes. 34. Werecommend that priority areas identified, whether by Foresight or not, should be fully funded, even if this means more selectivity in the awards made. 35. We recommend that each Research Council contributes positively to an expanded LINK scheme. 36. We recommend that the Research Councils seek further opportunities for joint funding, of research within the science and engineering base. 37. We recommend continued support for the ROPA scheme and for the jointly funded science budget equipment scheme. 38. We recommend that the research training support grant for consumables and related recurrent research expenditure should be increased further as a priority item from within the Science Budget, as circumstances permit. 5.13 Science and Engineering Base. The role of the Higher Education Funding Councils (HEFCs) and the Research Councis (RCs) in taking forward Foresight (recommendations 28-36) has already been addressed above (section 4). The Foresight dialogues in the autumn will provide an opportunity to consider the progress made by individual RCs in integrating Foresight into their decision-making processes. 5.14 The then Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, David Hunt, announced the Realising our Potential Awards (ROPAs) on 24 May, two days after the launch of the Steering Group’s report (see recommendation 37). A total of 473 awards costing £46.7 million were made. A report on the ROPA scheme will be published shortly by the OST. It is worth noting here that ROPAs are not funded at the expense of responsive mode ‘science; the essence of ROPAs is that they are awarded to fund curiosity-driven, speculative research which is at the heart of our great tradition and achievement in fundamental science. INFRASTRUCTURAL ISSUES 39. We recommend the various skill deficits identified by panels in areas like IT competence, chemistry, mathematics, and finance should be discussed with the Education and Employment Departments, the relevant training and further education bodies and the professional institutions with a view to developing a co-ordinated response.