British Government Investing $446 Million to Support ‘Future Industries’

The British government is investing £370 million (about $446 million) to support “future industries.”

The new Science and Technology Framework provides government funding to improve infrastructure, investment and skills needed for growing technologies ranging from quantum and supercomputing to artificial intelligence (AI), the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said in a Monday (March 6) press release.

Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan said in the release that innovation and technology will help raise productivity and wages, transform healthcare, reduce energy prices and create jobs and economic growth.

“That is why, today, we are putting the full might of the British government and our private sector partners behind our push to become a scientific and technological superpower, because only through being world leaders in future industries like AI and quantum will we be able to improve the lives of every Briton,” Donelan said in the release.

The Framework includes an investment of £250 million (about $301 million) in AI, quantum technologies and engineering biology, up to £50 million (about $60 million) to spur co-investment in science from the private sector and philanthropists, £50 million to improve facilities at research institutes and universities, £10 million (about $12 million) to boost tech and science startups and £10 million to support the establishment of a quantum computing research center, according to the press release.

These new additions join existing funding that includes £117 million (about $141 million) to create new PhDs for AI researchers and £8 million (about $10 million) to encourage AI leaders around the world to do their research in the United Kingdom, the release said.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in the release that the U.K. aims to “cement our place as a global science and technology superpower by 2030.”

“The more we innovate, the more we can grow our economy, create the high-paid jobs of the future, protect our security and improve lives across the country,” Sunak said in the release.

The U.K. has been working on maintaining the sovereignty of its digital economy.

As PYMNTS reported in September 2022, that effort has included shifting away from a dependence on Chinese hardware and Chinese investors in the sector.

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