Research Councils UK (RCUK) today welcomed a report analysing the huge, but unrecognised,
role which science plays in the service sector. The report suggests that science
has great potential to expand its influence and the benefits it can bring to innovation
in the service sector.
Hidden wealth: the contribution of science to service sector innovation,
a report by the
Royal
Society, analyses the impact of science on the service sector, which currently
employs over 80 per cent of the UK working population. It reveals that while science,
technology, engineering and maths are embedded throughout the service sector, they
are rarely recognised and there has been very little research done into how innovation,
which drives the expansion of the service sector, develops.
The report details a number of recommendations, including that the Research Councils,
Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) should ensure that the
research base contributes to more effective modelling of systemic risk in financial
services. Professor Ian Diamond, Chair of RCUK, welcomed the report, supporting
its findings and commenting that "RCUK is now in dialogue with the Bank of England
over future research agendas and regards them as a key research partner.
"There is a lot of research needed to provide an evidence base for policy in
the UK service sector", he continued, "and RCUK is constantly exploring ways of
supporting researchers working on supplying that evidence base".
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Notes
Contact:
Chloë Somers
RCUK Press Officer
Tel: 01793 444592
Research Councils UK is the strategic partnership of the UK's seven Research
Councils; they invest annually around £3 billion in research, covering the full
spectrum of academic disciplines from the medical and biological sciences to astronomy,
physics, chemistry and engineering, social sciences, economics, and the arts and
humanities.
The seven UK Research Councils are:
- Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC);
- Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC);
- Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC);
- Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC);
- Medical Research Council (MRC);
- Natural Environment Research Council (NERC);
- Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC).