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North West Science Strategy Launch

The Rt. Hon. Alistair Darling MP,  Former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
AstraZeneca, Alderley Park, Cheshire,  17 April 2007

I welcome the opportunity to talk to you at the launch of the North West Science Strategy. 

Science is vital to our future.

And we have a lot to be proud of.

I am pleased to be here not least because, of the DTI’s budget, over half – £3.5 billion – goes to Science and Innovation. And so it should.

The sum has doubled over the past nine years and it will increase again in the years to come. We’ve chosen to spend that money because we believe, as the Chancellor announced in his Budget, it is necessary for our country’s future.

Globalisation

The world is changing. And with it, our economy, and our industrial base.

China’s GDP has quadrupled in the last 30 years. It now produces:

• half the world’s textiles and computers,
• around two thirds of the world’s mobile phones and digital cameras,
• four out of every five of the world’s photocopiers,
• and, in a single factory, 40% of the world’s microwave ovens.

And at wages that are a fraction of ours here in the UK.

We can’t compete on cheap products and wages, nor should we. But we can and must compete on quality of excellence. And particularly on our ability to discover and innovate. 

And while China and India may be producing photocopiers today, they want to be where we are – researching and developing tomorrow’s technology.

So, from the leaders of the eighteenth and nineteenth century industrial revolution, we must become leaders in the global revolution of the 21st century.

So the challenge is there. And we are well placed to meet it.

We lead Europe in many in knowledge-based and high tech businesses.

A fifth of the world’s current top selling medicines were discovered and developed in the UK. Bringing new cancer treatments and gene therapies to hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

Our record of scientific discovery is one of the best in the world underpinning our future prosperity.

But being good at science is just the start. It’s what you do with it that matters.

If we are to compete in the global economy, then we need to do more to transfer knowledge from the laboratory to the market place.

And we need to make sure markets expand. Free and fair trade is essential. Trade creates jobs and wealth. It can be a powerful force for development.

There is no gain in protectionism – you know only too well. Protectionism prevents trade and would damage our economy.

We need to seize opportunities. Build on our strengths which include science and innovation. These are vital to our economy and our society. Its importance cannot be over estimated for our future prosperity.

We are a nation of inventors. From Harrison’s Chronometer to Faraday’s electric motor; Bell’s telephone to Logie Baird’s television, British science and innovation is second to none. (DNA fingerprinting, the Internet, Dolly the Sheep, CCD screens.)

With just one per cent of the world’s population, we produce nine per cent of the world’s scientific papers and receive 12 per cent of all citations, including 13 per cent of the most highly cited ones. We are also ranked first in terms of papers and citations per head in the G7.

Our share of PhD awards is up 9.4 per cent within the OECD.

We have been at the forefront of some of the world’s most important medical, technological and engineering discoveries.

We have world leading science research universities – three in the world top ten, eight in the top fifty. And the four top universities in Europe.

And in the coming years, the countries that will prosper will be those that can compete on intellectual strength and high technology. And, most importantly, those that can turn good science into good commercial opportunity.

So that’s where we will focus national resources in the future – driving initiatives like the Higher Education Innovation Fund and the Technology Strategy Board.

HEIF provides £110 million a year to universities, to help them to develop links between their research base and business. Such has been its success in the last three years alone, 25 university spin-out companies – now valued at £1.5 billion – have been floated on the stock market. A great return on our investment. And a great result for British research.

The Technology Strategy Board brings business firmly into the decision making process to identify those technology areas where the UK is able to create competitive advantage in a global market.

Since it was established two years ago we have supported over 500 collaborative R&D projects backed by £600 million investment from government and industry.

And 20 Knowledge Transfer Networks are being supported to bring together science and business communities. Making the connections necessary to innovate in these key technology areas.

Nationally we are building on our strengths.

But each region must recognise and build on its own creativity and expertise and its own individual strengths.

The Northwest Science Council, established in 2001, was the first of its kind in the country – a vital hub, bringing together business, university and science partners in the region, and launching England’s first Regional Science Strategy in 2002.

Universities in the North West have international reputations, with 14 STEM related units receiving 5* ratings in the 2001 RAE assessment.

And this is set to grow. 38 projects in the North West have received over £96 million capital investment in the latest round of the Science Research and Innovation Fund.

£15 million of this is being used to Engineering Restructuring at Liverpool University and over £12 million for physics at Manchester University.
 
Economically, you are in a strong and thriving position. Latest employment figures for the north west rose from two and a half million in 1997 to just over 3 million in 2004.  An increase of more than 17%. 

But at the same time the North West’s strengths are changing. Because it has been recognised that it needed to change.

Science and innovation put you at the heart of the heart of the industrial revolution. Now it can put you at the heart of the global revolution.

Your strengths are clear. Historically you can lay claim to innovators like Bury boy John Kay – a key figure in the industrial revolution who made the Manchester textile industry the envy of the world.

And, of course, Sir Frederick Henry Royce built his first Rolls in Hulme.

Between them, the Universities of Manchester, Liverpool and Lancaster have 28 Nobel Prize winners among their staff and former students:

The Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus is a world-class science base, making a significant contribution to the UK’s international competitiveness

It brings together white coats with white collars – scientists with business – to increase opportunities for knowledge transfer and attract major R&D investment to the UK.
 
Making a major scientific contribution to our society, as well as helping to drive forward innovation in the economy of the North-West.

Manchester Science Park is also expanding, with 3 sites in the city, hosting 100 companies and 1,000 staff.

While the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine is leading international research on human filiarisis.

Of course, science is only the start of it. As I have said, it’s what you do with it that counts. If we are to truly compete in a global economy, we need to do more to transfer knowledge from the laboratory to the market place.

The world’s first computer was developed at Manchester University, but where was it exploited?

The new Science Strategy is the next step. Looking at how you can build on these foundations – capitalise on your science and R&D base – to build the region’s economy and assure its prosperity.

This represents the future for the region – not just for the scientists or managers or other staff who work in the sectors, but for everyone who lives in the North West. Because it is the key to your success in the global economy.

By building it up, we can keep the region at the heart of the global revolution, and promote it as it should be promoted – as a vibrant hotbed of scientific endeavour. As a leader, not only in the UK, but in the world.

You’ve set out an ambitious strategy that will help will help the North West continue to grow and prosper. One you can rightly be proud of.