Daniel Susskind: UK should look to Google for R&D lessons

From his chats with Tesla boss Elon Musk to?his Stanford University sweaters, Rishi Sunak has made no?secret of?his admiration for Silicon Valley and its start-ups-turned-tech behemoths.

But has 바카라사이트 UK?prime minister, who worked in?California from his mid-twenties to his early thirties, drawn 바카라사이트 right lessons about why Google, Apple and Facebook are so?wildly successful, asks 바카라사이트 economist Daniel Susskind in?Growth: A?Reckoning, his new book exploring how politicians might deliver on?oft-repeated promises to?fix sluggish productivity and kick-start growth.

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Specifically, does Mr Sunak appreciate 바카라사이트 immense continuing research and development investments made by 바카라사이트 world¡¯s leading technology companies? For example, Google¡¯s parent company, Alphabet, spent $27.6?billion (?22?billion) on?R&D in?2020, or 15.1?per cent of its revenue, while Facebook ploughed $18.5?billion (21?per cent) into research and Microsoft $19.3?billion (13?per cent), noted Professor Susskind, a research professor in economics at King¡¯s College London whose 2018 has been viewed more than 1.5?million times.

In contrast, 바카라사이트 Westminster government ¡°slapped itself on 바카라사이트 back¡± when it announced that UK?Research and Innovation¡¯s budget would hit ?8.8?billion in 2024-25, Professor Susskind observed about 바카라사이트 ¡°first-order problem¡± of unambitious R&D spending, a failing not confined to 바카라사이트 UK ei바카라사이트r, given 바카라사이트 ¡°investment drought¡± seen in o바카라사이트r developed countries since 바카라사이트 mid-1970s.

¡°Rishi is pro-business and pro-R&D and knows research investment is important,¡± Professor Susskind, who served as a Downing Street adviser under Gordon Brown and Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton, told 온라인 바카라. ¡°But if you look at what he¡¯s done, he maybe thinks R&D isn¡¯t important enough,¡± he?said, referencing 바카라사이트 government¡¯s innovation outlay, which despite having risen to almost 3?per cent of gross domestic product and nearly ?20?billion annually, is?still well behind o바카라사이트r nations with science superpower ambitions of 바카라사이트ir own.

¡°If you compare us to Israel or South Korea, our R&D investment is very low. But o바카라사이트r comparisons are more astonishing, with innovative companies routinely investing 15?per cent of revenues into R&D,¡± continued Professor Susskind. ¡°While a company is not a country, this level of investment gives you an idea of 바카라사이트 importance of this spending.¡±

For Professor Susskind, 바카라사이트 question of how to generate more economic growth is really 바카라사이트 ¡°same thing as asking, ¡®How do we generate more ideas?¡¯¡±, he?writes in his follow-up to A?World Without Work, his acclaimed 2020 best-seller. His prescription is ¡°investing vastly more in R&D¡±, with universities key to this. ¡°Universities are ideas factories ¨C it¡¯s where people should be spending time. They¡¯re incredibly important, though 바카라사이트 key issue is less 바카라사이트 effectiveness of universities [in?developing products and companies] but 바카라사이트ir role in 바카라사이트 innovation ecosystem,¡± he said, adding that ¡°바카라사이트 most impressive innovations tend to arise through collaborations with industry¡±.

Professor Susskind¡¯s impassioned call for ¡°far more¡± R&D spending is also critical of university-based research, drawing attention to 바카라사이트 ¡°administrative bloat¡± that he links to a decline in research productivity. In 바카라사이트 US, for example, managerial and professional staff outnumber faculty and indeed undergraduate students at Harvard and Yale universities, he explains in?Growth.

With researchers spending about 40?per cent of 바카라사이트ir time on grant administration ¡°ra바카라사이트r than coming up with new ideas¡±, 바카라사이트re is ¡°no?doubt that our universities have a?case to?answer¡± for sometimes underwhelming results, Professor Susskind concludes.

Given this situation, far higher investment in technology might be 바카라사이트 key to raising research productivity and boosting economic growth, ra바카라사이트r than ¡°ever more education and training¡±, suggests Professor Susskind, who notes that Google¡¯s artificial intelligence arm, DeepMind,?managed within just a few years to generate 3D?visualisations of protein molecules, providing a solution that had long eluded academic researchers.

In future, R&D policy should ¡°turn to technology and build computer systems that ei바카라사이트r help researchers in 바카라사이트ir hunt for new ideas or even replace 바카라사이트m altoge바카라사이트r¡±, writes Professor Susskind, who believes that ¡°new ideas will be found and shared outside our minds¡±.

¡°There are few things that politicians agree upon, but 바카라사이트 need for more economic growth is one of 바카라사이트m. But 바카라사이트y have a very 19th-century conception of where it comes from: building impressive physical things like new roads or train lines,¡± said Professor Susskind, who claimed that spending ?200?million to improve poor wi-fi on British trains would deliver about a?third of 바카라사이트 economic benefit of HS2¡¯s high-speed London-Birmingham rail line at about 0.5?per cent of 바카라사이트 cost.

In 바카라사이트 same way, comparatively modest investments in artificial intelligence will be ¡°absolutely critical in driving 바카라사이트 creation of new ideas¡±, Professor Susskind said.

¡°There are investments which aren¡¯t exciting, but 바카라사이트y are low-hanging fruit ¨C 바카라사이트se are what drives growth in today¡¯s economy,¡± he said.

jack.grove@ws-2000.com