PRESS RELEASE
Big Innovation Centre welcomes the Industrial Strategy’s commitment to Artificial Intelligence, but asks, are we making the fundamental shift needed to solve Britain’s deep-seated economic problems?
Following the publication of the Industrial Strategy, Big Innovation Centre’s CEO Professor Birgitte Andersen comments:
“We welcome the ambitious Industrial Strategy, which shows the Government is determined to build for the UK a strong innovation and entrepreneurship foundation based on artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies. The support for the regions of the UK with local Industrial Strategies and a £1.7 billion Transforming Cities Fund – to make towns fit for people, businesses, and growth – is particularly welcome.
“Every street, every business, every house and every person must be AI ready by 2025 (if we are to compete on the international stage), indeed we especially welcome the 2.4% of GDP to be spent on R&D. However, the focus should not just be on addressing stagnant productivity, which is measured with outdated methods. We can’t address the redundant problems of the past with the technology of the future. Instead, we should be identifying the challenges ahead, such as do we have a capable global trading system in all UK regions, can the UK become the global hub for intellectual property exchange, and is our industry and innovation supply chain fit for the 4th Industrial Revolution?
“To find the answers to these impending questions there needs to be a big data platform with diagnostics tools in an AI-driven National Innovation Audit (NIA) to identify the country’s strengths. The Big Innovation Centre is doing just that. The NIA will give us a real-time online assessment of the skills base and innovation capabilities of the UK’s regions. We look forward to using our insights to help inform Government policy and direct support for this vital area in the future.”
ENDS
FURTHER INFORMATION
William Pender
JBP
William.Pender@jbp.co.uk
0203 267 0074
Alice Piterova
Big Innovation Centre
a.piterova@biginnovationcentre.com ?
020 3713 4036
NOTES TO EDITORS
Big Innovation Centre
Big Innovation Centre (BIC) is a business-led open innovation consultancy established in 2011 that provides thought leadership for big companies and public bodies to address shared economic challenges and raise their innovative capabilities. They specialise in convening innovation champions in companies, government and world-class universities, thinking forward about how to promote innovation and the best use of intellectual property, in particular, through co-creating open innovation eco-systems and communities, and piloting digital platforms where they see gaps and opportunities.
Professor Birgitte Andersen is CEO and CoCreator of Big Innovation Centre. An entrepreneur with a background in academia, she leads in developing practical policy proposals to grow the UK’s economy.
Big Innovation Centre is also currently the Secretariat for The All Party Parliamentary Groups on Artificial Intelligence (APPG AI) and The All Party Parliamentary Groups on the Forth Industrial Revolution (APPG 4IR).
BIC’s CEO is Professor Birgitte Andersen and its Chair is Will Hutton. Big Innovation Centre is registered in England and Wales No. 8613849. Address: Ergon House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AL. CEO of Big Innovation Centre, Professor Birgitte Andersen (PhD Economics), is also Professor at University of London.
