King talks up British science and technology
An
Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Apr 8, 2005
UK Government Chief Scientist Sir David King painted a healthy picture of the state of British science and technology during the tenth IChemE George E Davis Lecture in London this week.
UK Government Chief Scientist Sir David King painted a healthy picture of the state of British science and technology during the tenth IChemE George E Davis Lecture in London this week.
Addressing an invited audience of more than 100 chemical engineers and senior figures from the scientific community, King took advantage of the Prime Minister's 24-hour delay in announcing the date of the British general election to give a strong endorsement for the UK Government's science strategy.
During a lively lecture King said: "UK science was chronically under funded through the 1980s and early 1990s but government spending reviews in 1998 and 2000 had started to redress the balance".
"The annual science budget has increased from GBP 1.4 billion in 1997 to GBP 2.4 billion in 2005 and plans are in place for further increases to GBP 3.3 billion by 2007".
He went on to say: "It is also a Government target to increase R and D spending in the UK to 2.5% of GDP by 2014" - a figure that he described as entirely "do-able".
King highlighted the role of science in shaping effective public policy, citing advice issued to Government during the 2001 foot and mouth disease outbreak in the UK as an example.
In contrast, he presented 26 year old research that clearly predicted the seismic episode which resulted in 2004's Indian Ocean tsunami - research dismissed at that time by governments who were unwilling to contemplate the cost of effective early warning systems.
He also touched on future challenges, including climate change.
King unveiled a series of dramatic slides depicting clear evidence of the link between human activity and rising CO2 levels before calling for "a clear vision of the energy futures required to enable global collaboration to move forward".
Although he believed that the UK science and technology base was now in much better shape, King called for additional measures to enhance the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering and maths.
Following the lecture, King was presented with the highest award in chemical engineering in the UK, the George E Davis Medal, by IChemE President, Dr Robin Batterham.
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