The UK’s science and innovation lanscape is on the cusp of a major transformation, according to science minister Lord Patrick Vallance, who argued the UK must now “connect with its brightest clusters” and supercharge international partnerships to stay competitive.
Speaking the recent India Global Forum on Thursday, the government’s national tech adviser and Oxford-Cambridge innovation champion laid out a vision for how deepening academic and industrial collaboration with India can deliver economic dividends on home soil.
His comments come just weeks after chancellor Rachel Reeves’ June Spending Review earmarked record public spending in R&D, with multi-year funding commitments in AI, quantum, energy transition and NHS tech transformation.
The government’s forthcoming industrial strategy, due this summer, is expected to outline eight priority sectors for gorwth – many with a strong tech and science backbone.
“India is becoming an increasingly powerful player in science, tech and innovation” Vallance told the forum on Thursday. “We’ve already got strong ties at Univeristy level, but we now need to bring in startups, scale ups and larger corporates too”.
Reeves’ R&D roadmap
Reeves’ recent emphasis on “growth through innovation” is a notable pivot from short term cost cutting to longer term national capability building.
What’s more, analysts have said her review marks the most comprehensive attempt since Theresa May’s industrial strategy to connect R&D investment with economic aims.
Vallance said he sees this as a perfect backdrop for enhanced international collaboration, especially as AI, health tech and clear energy rapidly converge.
“AI and healthcare are going to be transformed in the next decade – and we’ve got very complementary strengths between the UK and India”, he claimed. “We already know from vaccines how impactful that collaboration can be”.
Indeed, India and the UK played a central role in the gobal rolllout of the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic.
Now, Vallance said he sees AI-enabled vaccine development and disease proventions as next frontiers for this partnership – especially if funding methods and cross-border regulatory alignment can keep up.
Vallance doubles down on global talent
Talent mobility remains one of the most important levers for R&D collaboration between the UK and India, and Vallance welcomed recent changes to the global talent visa, making it easier for skilled researchers to relocate.
“This country’s science and tech system has always depended on immigration”, he announced, citing the fact that over a third of the UK’s Novel laureates were either first or second generation immigrants.
As India’s research ecosystem matures and its startup ecosystem expands, Vallance sees two-way movement as essential, not just academic but founders, accelerators and growth-stage firms across borders.
He emphasised that while governments have role to “oil the wheels”, the real driver of innovation is collaboration between these people and institutions.
“It’s not about just shiny objects at the end of the corridor”, he claimed of the Oxford-Cambridge region. “It’s about scale-up space, educational opportunity and plugging local communities into the global innovation economy”.
Is the UK ready to compete globally?
Vallance’s remarks echo broader questions being asked within Westminster about whether the UK is leveraging its world-class research base to full commercial effect.
While the new funding commitments are encouraging, critics warn that execution and regulatory reform must follow quickly.
Still, with Vallance acting as a key bridge between policy, science and industry – and India offering an increasingly dynamic counterpart – momentum is building.
As he put it: “The UK and India have long standing collaborative roots. Now we need to turn those roots into routes – of trade, talent and tech”.
