Comment
High tech is for humans: Social good through R&D investment
Amy Gilham, Director in our Economics team, makes the case for delivering societal and social benefits through R&D investment.
Laying the social foundations
In July 2022 DLUHC published a paper setting out its research questions[1]. This includes a section on Levelling Up and the role of R&D spending which includes the following question:
- Can we estimate the relative social returns of increased spending on R&D compared to improving the diffusion of innovation and the adoption of new technologies?
From my perspective within the Economics team at Turley, and through my involvement in the strategy for and creation of R&D spaces, this can broadly be approached from two directions:
- In terms of research content, what does spend on R&D give back to society?
- In terms of the undertaking of R&D and the spaces and places in which this occurs, how does this bring societal benefit?
Whichever way you look at it, bringing benefit to people and society more generally are front and centre.
A new type of impact
In my 17 years as an economic development practitioner, the focus on economy has been ever prevalent, particularly since the 2009 downturn. However, as DLUHC’s research questions show, there is a new kid on the block – that kid being…people and society.
As recent times living in lockdown have shown, it is quality of life which is an increasingly important factor in how we perceive and use our built environment. This is both in terms of our health but also in terms of how we live and use our places and spaces on a daily basis.
What does R&D research spend give back to society?
It is clear from the Government’s recent announcements on its funded research areas[2], that there are direct societal gains to be made from its R&D investment. R&D spend includes a strong focus on research which will further our understanding of things which will affect us as humans and therefore enables us to identify solutions to respond to these. This relates to areas including health, energy, and digital transformation (application of AI, robotics etc).
These will not only transport the UK into a science superpower, bringing economic benefit, but these areas will appear in our everyday lives be it the advances in health care or the way our rubbish is recycled and our impact on the climate.
As the effects of this will not be limited to those geographies in which the investment takes place, this will have a ‘levelling out’ benefit (touching all places and people) as opposed to ‘levelling up’ (closing the productivity gap).
How does undertaking R&D, and the spaces and places in which this occurs, bring societal benefit?
When thinking from a Levelling Up perspective, geography will always be important. And this is where the creation of spaces in which R&D can take place really comes to the fore. If we design and build spaces for R&D in areas across the country which can most benefit from this investment, then this is where a Levelling Up objective can be realised.
These places should not be limited to those which are not already good examples of highly productive places (in Gross Value Added terms). Pockets of deprivation exist everywhere. Harnessing the R&D investment in these or neighbouring areas, will help to realise additional social benefit, regardless of whether the broad location is in the north or south, east or west, of the country.
But how do you harness this R&D investment to realise additional social benefit?
Through inclusive design and operation. For example:
Town and city centres (brownfield)
Regeneration of areas of towns and cities with a focus on R&D/innovation space (such as Knowledge Quarters and Innovation Districts) can be designed to be inclusive to the immediate surrounding neighbourhoods. This will support the spaces, both internal and external, to be spaces for everyone. This can be achieved through, for example:
- Governance arrangements which involve community members in a sincere way through the creation of specific projects or Boards for example.
- Physical aspects such as free wifi in building lobbies so that they act as quasi-public spaces.
New communities (greenfield)
Take up of hybrid working (as opposed to exclusively home working or workplace working) is particularly evident in locations with higher concentrations of those in higher skilled positions, and those working in professional scientific and technical roles[3]. Providing R&D space in new communities in areas where research is a key sector will enable those in these roles to achieve a work life balance through hybrid working and local employment space. As for brownfield regeneration there will be opportunities to spin out the benefits of investment in these places and spaces to the wider community.
‘S’ stands for people
I expect to see the human face of development and community becoming ever prominent.
We are already seeing a refocus towards ‘people’ through the ‘S’ of the Environmental Social Governance (ESG) agenda with major developers and investors paying homage to this through the creation of specific strategic ESG roles.
Regardless of the detail of Levelling Up as a specific policy objective under Sunak’s government, R&D space will continue to evolve as a place where society can benefit from more than the research which takes place within it, but through its very existence as a core element within communities.
24 November 2022
[1] DLUHC areas of research interest (14 July 2022)
[2] £95 million funding for super-materials of the future, to boost UK growth including in sectors such as health (e.g. 3D bioprinting) and energy (e.g. robotics); £211 million in new government funding for battery research and innovation; and Tech Rocketship Awards for AI, 5G, Agri-Tech, Digital Health, Cybersecurity, Climate Tech and a Trailblazers Award – Diversity in Tech
[3] Is hybrid working here to stay?