ANew National Purpose, the latest report from the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change sees former Prime Minister Blair join forces with former Conservative party leader Lord Hague in a cross-party call for the state to reshape itself around the idea that science and technology should be driving innovation across all the functions and activities of government. And there’s plenty in there for universities to digest and consider.
The core idea of the report is the imminence of what’s sometimes called the fourth industrial revolution – the idea that novel technologies are fundamentally transforming the way we live – paired with the sense that the UK is falling behind in the global technology arms race.
With AI, biotech and climate tech given as examples, the UK lacks, according to the report’s authors, the kind of sustained focus and investment in a science and technology ecosystem that can harness the transformative power of technology to benefit the country and its citizens.
The sheer scale of the key claim means that the opening pages are something of a breathless canter through multiple technologies and globally comparative data points – it’s not an argument that could realistically be considered nuanced.
But even if you’re not at a point where you can make a judgement on the accuracy of the specifics, there’s resonance in the idea that there’s going to have to be some kind of tipping point on tech.
