Andrew Miller MP: Invest more in Innovation and Manufacturing

By bringing together key industry players, academics and politicians, the
panel has drawn on the diverse expertise and experiences of participants to provide a truly fresh, cross-sector and cross-party perspective on what is
needed to propel the UK higher up the league tables on international
competitiveness in innovation, research and development, and skills.

The second activity of equal importance has stimulated some fresh thinking through the “We Made It!” competition involving young people up and down the country. Both have an important role in helping to shape the way in which the nation sees the importance of manufacturing. The information revolution has had an enormous impact on the world, but for too long there was a belief that this replaced manufacturing.

The fact is that we need both, we need to keep up with the knowledge economy and we need to make the next generation of high tech products
that will further drive that economy.

In my own constituency, the opening of a Fab Lab with the support of
the Manufacturing Institute has helped cement this concept into the
community.

Although the project is only a few months old, I am looking forward to the first business emerging from this new way of working. In summary, there are challenges for all of us, we need to:

• continue to learn from the best practice around the world
• ensure that the finance sector understands how best to support long term investment in our manufacturing sector
• invest in skills at all levels
• excite young people about STEM careers especially those that lead to a new generation of products
• make sure we use the talents of the whole population especially focusing on the shortage of women in these key areas

Get these right and we will climb those league tables!

Andrew Miller MP is Chair of House of Commons Science and Technology Committee