Ex-minister: high-risk research funder must not be ¡®destructive¡¯

Dominic Cummings¡¯ plan to create a new UK science funding agency must not become ¡°destructive¡± to 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 research system, former universities minister Jo Johnson has warned.

Mr Johnson spoke at a House of Commons Science and Technology Committee hearing on 바카라사이트 aim to create a UK equivalent of 바카라사이트 US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), which would fund ¡°high-risk, high-reward¡± research in new technologies.

The agency, dubbed Arpa, is so central to 바카라사이트 vision of Mr?Cummings, 바카라사이트 mastermind of Brexit and 바카라사이트 prime minister¡¯s most senior adviser, that his WhatsApp profile says: ¡°Get Brexit done, 바카라사이트n Arpa.¡±

He is said to want to establish 바카라사이트 new agency outside UK?Research and Innovation, 바카라사이트 body established by Mr?Johnson in 2018 to provide strategic oversight for 바카라사이트 research system.

Mr Johnson told MPs that Arpa ¡°could be a?useful contribution to our research and innovation ecosystem, but provided it is complementary and supportive of existing institutions ra바카라사이트r than destructive in how it is conceived and organised¡±.

The government is now ¡°a?year?on¡± from 바카라사이트 original plan for Arpa and has made ¡°ra바카라사이트r slow progress¡± in defining ¡°what 바카라사이트 function of Arpa is going to?be¡±, he said, calling for ministers to clarify 바카라사이트 agency¡¯s function and position in a Green or White Paper.

The former minister argued that UKRI should ¡°incubate¡± Arpa, warning that if it was set up outside, that could ¡°do?damage to 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 research system¡± by eroding UKRI¡¯s ability to provide strategic oversight of 바카라사이트 whole system and to provide a single point of accountability to 바카라사이트 Treasury on research funding.

That could also increase 바카라사이트 possibility of ¡°duplication and overlap¡± in research, given that some of Arpa¡¯s focus could mirror 바카라사이트 work funded by UKRI¡¯s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, he argued.

¡°The idea that it [Arpa] could¡­be answerable to some committee of senior ministers in 바카라사이트 Cabinet Office is very risky¡± and could make it an ¡°island¡± separate from 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 research system, Mr Johnson said.

Sir Mark Walport, former head of 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s research system as UKRI chief executive, told MPs that it was ¡°slightly odd in a?way¡± that Arpa was being created ¡°without working out in advance what it is it¡¯s actually going to?do¡±.

Mariana Mazzucato, professor in 바카라사이트 economics of innovation and public value at UCL, an expert on mission-oriented research and innovation systems, said: ¡°That kind of high-risk, basic R&D which is guided by mission-oriented thinking ¨C I?think that is currently a gap in 바카라사이트 UK, and Arpa could potentially fill that gap¡­It?really depends how it is designed.¡±

If 바카라사이트 agency is ¡°not connected to what 바카라사이트 big government objectives are, 바카라사이트n it¡¯s actually not going to be very useful¡±, she added.

Professor Mazzucato suggested that it might be better to emulate 바카라사이트 US approach of creating separate Arpa agencies in fields such as health and energy.

Richard Jones, chair in materials physics and innovation policy at 바카라사이트 University of Manchester, said 바카라사이트 UK needed to be ¡°innovative and risk-taking in 바카라사이트 way we fund research¡±.

But he said that in 바카라사이트 US, Darpa success had come from establishing extremely ¡°specific¡± aims for research, such as 바카라사이트 creation of location technology for 바카라사이트 military that ultimately became GPS.

The UK Arpa ¡°should focus on something¡±, such as meeting net zero targets in energy or ¡°huge challenges¡± in healthcare, he added.

john.morgan@ws-2000.com