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UK Photonics Strategy

Lord Sainsbury of Turville,  Former Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Science and Innovation
QE2 Conference Centre,  13 July 2006

I am very pleased to be here with you this morning, to talk about the opportunities that photonics offers the UK, and the ways in which we can make sure that those opportunities are realised.

There is good reason to believe that the impact of photonics in the 21st century will be as significant as electronics was in the 20th, or steam in the 19th.

The range of products using photonics is also growing rapidly. It includes the displays on our mobile phones, cameras and televisions; safe and sensitive sensors that are used in research, health monitoring and security systems; bright and energy-efficient lighting and energy–saving solar cells; lasers in industry; plus all the advantages of high-bandwidth communications using fibre optics. These are just some of the early applications.

The Photonics Steering Group’s report, ‘UK Strategy for growth’, focuses on five areas - communications, life sciences, security, lighting and energy, and industry - and identifies some exciting possibilities.

There are many benefits to be gained. In a world of rapidly shrinking resources, photonics is light on physical resources, light on energy and heavy on delivery – in a vast area of applications. It embraces most scientific disciplines. And it opens the door to huge markets all over the world.

The worldwide market for photonics components and enabled products in 2004 was worth almost £150 billion. Some forecasts estimate that the market will expand to £300 billion by 2015, with an average growth rate approaching 10 per cent. The US Optoelectronics Industry Development Association suggests $1 trillion by 2015 – that’s £600 billion.

As the report makes clear, many of the most vitally important breakthroughs in the science of photonics have been made in the UK. They include the use of optical fibre itself, the invention at the University of Southampton of the optical fibre amplifier, the potential of light-emitting polymers first realised at Cambridge University, and more recent work on photonic crystals and terahertz imaging.
The UK has led in key areas of the science and we now need to lead in key areas of commercialisation. But this will not be an easy task. Let me quote four extracts from the industry snapshot in the Executive Summary which describe, I believe, the nature of the problem we face:

Firstly, “the U.K. has extensive and, in many cases, world-class research in these fields. This research is in both academic and industrial laboratories.”

• Secondly, “very significant growth is expected in several markets for photonic products over the next ten years- they include Lab-on-Chip, Security, Fibre to the Premises (FTTx) and Next Generation Broadband, Displays, and High Brightness LEDs.”
• Thirdly, “many of these markets are at an early stage that would not preclude UK companies from establishing a position, but many are also large-volume markets that would require significant investment.”
• Fourthly, “the majority of UK photonics companies employ fewer than 30 people although there is a reasonable representation of companies around the 100 mark.”

I think this describes accurately the nature of the opportunity we face, and government and industry, therefore, needs to give very serious consideration to the six strategic recommendations in the Report.

The Government has already done much to create the right conditions to innovate and grow. A priority for the present government in recent years has been to increase the funding of the research base. When the government came to power, the science budget was £1.3 billion. As a result of substantial increases in a number of spending reviews, the science budget will have more than doubled in real terms to £3.4 billion by 2007/8.

A second major objective has been to increase the amount of knowledge transfer from our science and engineering base. We have introduced a number of measures to improve our performance and, to date, our programmes have been very successful in terms of licensing, patents, spin-off companies and contract work for industry. For example, in the past two years alone, 20 spinouts from UK universities have floated on the stock market with a combined value of over £1 billion.

A third objective for the government has been to encourage more applied or user-driven research – vital, if we are to reach our goal of total public and private research reaching 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2014. To help achieve this, we have developed a Technology Strategy and Programme to provide a business-driven framework for identifying emerging technologies where the UK has the research capacity to create a competitive advantage.

To bring this closer to home, about £50 million has been allocated by DTI from the Technology Programme to photonics related research since 2004, with more – given the diverse application of the technology – from other government departments and Regional Development Agencies. Most recently, in April, we launched a new call for proposals in displays and solid-state lighting worth £9 million. And this year DTI also agreed funding of £5 million for the two Knowledge Transfer Networks in the field – you will hear more about these later this morning.

In support of the science base, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council announced grants for photonics related research worth more that £45 million in 2005 – and growing. Again, other research councils have their own spends in this field.

Government has its part to play, and our mission at DTI - ‘Working to create the conditions for business success and help the UK respond to the challenge of globalisation’ – defines our role. But we all need to work together to achieve success. I am sure that we have as a country a major part to play on the photonics world stage. Our success may be in specific areas rather than all, but this report identifies many opportunities and many strengths. There are weaknesses and threats too, but these can be addressed.

The photonics community is to be congratulated for working together to produce this report, which gives a valuable analysis of the opportunities and challenges facing it. The wide-ranging consultation exercise has identified how to ensure the effective development of photonics within the UK by providing the conditions for capitalising on the key opportunities.

I would like to thank Ian Vance and the Photonics Steering Group for their excellent report, and the 160+ individuals who gave their time and expertise to contribute to it. I suspect many of you are here this morning. You have spelt out the opportunities that lie ahead and we must now seize them.
James Watt dreamed of a world with one steam engine in every mill. Bill Gates suggested that 640K of memory ought to be enough for anyone. History teaches us – and this report encourages us – to be bold and think big. The Government will do our part in taking forward the recommendations made, and I’m sure you will do yours. Working together, the future can be very bright.