TECHNOLOGICAL ANALYIS

Overview of UK Technological and Scientific Environment

The pace of technological change is one of the biggest challenges facing by any country today. We are living in an era where economic uncertainty is at its peak and major economies in the world, with the help of science and technology, are changing their strategies in order to gain competitive advantage over other economies.

Scientific research and development remains important in British universities, with many establishing science parks to facilitate production and co-operation with industry that is one of the reason UK 2 universities are in top 5 universities in world. United Kingdom has produced many important figures in the field of science and technology. Some major figures from UK are Isaac Newton, Charles Drawin, Henry Cavendish, Alexander Fleming, Francis Crick etc. Scientists from the UK continue to play a major role in the development of science and technology and major technological sectors include the aerospace, motor and pharmaceutical industries. In UK, England and Scotland are the major leading centre for scientific and technological advancement. Between 2004 and 2008 the UK produced 7% of the world's scientific research papers and had an 8% share of scientific citations, the third and second highest in the world but after economic crisis of 2008 United Kingdom pace of scientific and technological advancement has narrowed.

The UK plays a leading part in the aerospace industry, with companies including Rolls-Royce playing a leading role in the aero-engine market; BAE Systems acting as Britain's largest and the Pentagon's sixth largest defense supplier, and large companies including GKN acting as major suppliers to the Airbus project. Two British-based companies, GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca, ranked in the top five pharmaceutical companies in the world by sales in 2009 and UK companies have discovered and developed more leading medicines than any other country apart from the US.

If we are to return the UK to a path of sustainable economic growth, it is more important than ever that Government helps to facilitate, in partnership with business and research organizations, an environment that encourages investment in innovation. Improving the innovation system will directly support two of the government’s priorities for growth, by helping to make the UK the best place in Europe to start or grow a business and encouraging investment and exports.

Innovation in Macro Economy

Innovation is important for long-term productivity growth and UK is amongst the leading countries in terms of innovation intensity. Research and development investment in UK K is historically broadly in line with some of the comparator countries, such as Canada and France but is behind the lead group of countries which includes Finland, Japan and Germany. Relatively low Research and D investment compared to some countries is partially explained by the UK industrial structure, which includes a relatively high proportion of industries which are of a lower R&D intensity.

Investment in Research and Development (R&D)R&D is historically the most cited metric of innovation in an economy. It is an important input to many innovative processes and is relatively easy to compare across industries and countries.

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The figure 1

depicts the Gross expenditure on R&D, since 1991, which is currently $38.4 billion 1.7% of GDP. From 1990 UK have relatively low intensity which in current years have further decreased. UK Gross expenditure in R&D in 2010 was 1.8% of GDP which is now 1.7%.

In the UK in 2010, 61 per cent of all R&D was performed by businesses, with 27% occurring in higher education, 9% in government and the remainder in private nonprofit organizations. Compared to 2008, this represents a small shift away from businesses towards higher education and government as shown in figure 2.

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R&D Tax Credits and Other Support for BusinessResearch and development tax credit are the largest government support for businesses investing in research and development and continue to be the key driver for innovation. In the year 2011 R&D claims made by the businesses were GBP 1.1 billion on GBP 10.9 billion of expenditure.

The rate of tax relief available through the SME R&D tax credit was raised to 225% from April 2012, making it among the most competitive regimes in the world, which is likely to further incentivize companies to invest in R&D.

Important Scientific Researches by UK Scientist

1. Law of motion and law of gravity by Sir Isaac Newton2. Discovery of Hydrogen by Henry Cavendish3. The theory of aerodynamics, by Sir George Cayley4. The unification of electromagnetism, by James Clerk Maxwell5. The first meaningful synthesis of quantum mechanics with special relativity by Paul Dirac6. Theories in cosmology, quantum gravity and black holes, by Stephen Hawking

UK Society and Technology

Some of the emerging technology trends can be seen in the UK society:

Broadband is BigThe growth in the use of internet applications in everyday life is growing at an exponential rate. One of the biggest trends is the unstoppable growth of broadband internet connectivity, especially for home use. There are currently 1 million UK households with broadband, and new subscriptions are in the order of 42 000 per week.

Apples and BlackberriesA neat internet and phone tool called the Blackberry is the toy to have for business people on the move. The Blackberry allows people to access email on the move. While you're riding the tube, train or bus, you can check your mail. Another favorite pastime for commuters is the Apple iPod.

Wireless ConnectivityCoffee shops, airports, stations, hotels, all are going wireless these days. Most up market, UK hotels have a wireless broadband internet connection, meaning guests can move around the hotel with their laptop and not worry about wires and connections. Wireless is becoming a worldwide trend

Nobel Laureates

United Kingdom has won 119 Noble laureates. UK ranked 2nd in the race of most noble prizes won by countries. In the area of scientific research UK won 94 Nobel laureates. On the basis of Nobel laureates

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by University affiliation, University of Cambridge has most affiliation whereas University of Oxford is ranked 6th.

UK Vision for Future Technologies

UK government wants to allocate an extra of GBP 600 million of funding in area of science and technology. The areas in which UK government want to spend are:

1. Big data estimator and analyzer2. Space Industry3. Robotics and autonomous systems4. Synthetic biology5. Regenerative medicines6. Agri-sciences7. Advance manufacturing materials8. Energy Industry

The allocation of the extra £600 million of extra science funding is as follows

£189 million for big data £25 million for space £35 million for robotics and autonomous systems £88 million for synthetic biology £20 million for regenerative medicine £30 million for agri-science campuses £73 million for advanced materials £30 million for energy

Government has also committed a further:

£35 million for research campuses £25 million for the advanced metrology lab £50 million for transformative equipment and infrastructure

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