911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ

CSEP convened its second annual conference, marking another milestone in its ongoing engagement with industry and policy leaders.

On Wednesday, 15th October, the Centre for Sectoral Economic Performance (CSEP) held its second annual conference on Accelerating the UK’s Industrial Strategy: Driving Growth and Resilience, hosted by the Institution of Civil Engineers at One Great George Street in Westminster. 

With over 170 registered guests from across industry, ranging from trade associations and established multinationals to venture capital and disruptive start-ups, and the public sector, including central government, regulators, accelerators and arm’s-length bodies, and attendees from all the devolved nations and overseas, the event was a tremendous success, with an entire day of fascinating presentations, panel discussions and audience Q&As. 

Kicking off the conference was a keynote address from President of 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ, Professor Hugh Brady, who spoke passionately about the importance of the UK Government’s number one mission of economic growth, and the essential nature of growth to all of the Government’s other missions – reaffirming 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ’s commitment to supporting it. 

Director of CSEP, Dr Nigel Steward, then introduced CSEP, its origins, its aims, its work so far, and its ambitions going forward. He then went straight into a fireside chat with Michael Clark MBE, Deputy Director for Future Industries and Resilient Economy in Department for Business and Trade’s Industrial Strategy Unit. Nigel and Michael discussed the origins of the , how the IS-8 sectors were chosen, how the government is pursuing implementation of the strategy, the UK’s comparative industrial advantages and disadvantages, and what partnership between industry and government might look like going forward. 

The fireside chat was followed by three sector-specific presentations, panel discussions and audience Q&A sessions, looking at Cyber Security, Aeronautics and HealthTech, with panellists including: 

Cyber Security: protecting the cyberworld and growing into the cyber-physical world to create and protect new UK growth

• Simon Shiu, Visiting Professor of Cyber Security at the University of Bristol
• Andrew Elliot, Director of Cyber Security at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
• Verona Johnstone-Hulse, Government Affairs Lead at NCC Group
• Aurorah Smith – former Global Director of Commercial Strategy and Growth – Cybersecurity at BT, now Founder of Uncharted Brands (specialising in cybersecurity marketing and commercial strategy)

Aeronautics: opportunities in the transition to net-zero aviation

• Rafael Palacios, Professor in Computational Aeroelasticity – Department of Aeronautics at 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ College
• Laura Mainini, Chair in Aerospace Computational Design and Associate Director of the Brahmal Institute of Sustainable Aviation at 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ College
• Jim Albaugh, former President and Chief Executive Officer at Boeing Commercial Airplanes
• Mark Higson, Chief Operating Officer at Vertical Aerospace

HealthTech: strategy execution and exports

• James Moore, the Bagrit and RAEng Chair in Medical Device Design, Department of Bioengineering at 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ College
• Richard Devereaux Phillips, Executive Director of Policy and Partnerships at the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI)
• Sean Redmond, President of Silicon Catalyst Europe

Topics discussed included whether a “cyber MOT” should be introduced for businesses in the UK, whether aerospace regulations to encourage new technologies are sufficient at the national level or require international coordination, and what changes still need to be made within the Life Sciences Sector Plan to encourage greater investment.  

Before the break, attendees were treated to a keynote address and audience Q&A from the Rt Hon Lord David Willetts, Chair of the Regulatory Innovation Office, who spoke about how regulation can actually support and encourage innovation and growth, by creating frameworks that provide certainty and guardrails for businesses and start-ups to test and have new ideas approved in a collaborative and enabling environment. 

Following the break, the final three sector presentations, panel discussions and audience Q&As took place, with Fine Chemicals, Automotive and Tidal Energy providing a great deal of food for thought and insight. Panellists included: 

Fine Chemicals: a key supplier to the UK’s high value-add BioPharma sector

• Nilay Shah, Professor of Process Systems Engineer at 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ College
• Sharon Todd, Chief Executive of SCI
• Nishma Patel, Policy Director at the Chemical Industry Association

Automotive: opportunities arising from disruption in the automotive sector – a UK perspective 

• Joachim Taiber, Advanced Research Fellow in Mobility at CSEP and Managing Director at the International Alliance for Mobility Testing and Standardisation (IAMTS)
• Robert Shorten, Head of Dyson School of Design Engineering at 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ College
• Siddhartha Khastgir, Head of Safe Autonomy at WMG University of Warwick and Future Leaders Fellow at the UKRI
• Sean Redmond, President of Silicon Catalyst Europe

Tidal Power: can it play a role in reducing UK electricity costs and be a source of export growth? 

• Tilly Collins, Senior Teaching Fellow, Centre for Environmental Policy at 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ College
• Iain Staffel, Reading in Sustainable Energy at 911½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ College
• Sue Bartlett-Reed, Executive Director at the Marine Energy Council
• Jim Conybeare-Cross, Founder at Tidal Technologies Ltd

Topics discussed included the impact of high domestic industrial energy prices the competitiveness of the chemicals sector in the UK and what could be done to address it, what new business models might be needed for the UK automotive industry to thrive in the future of software-defined vehicles, and the export potential of the UK tidal energy sector. 

Finally, the conference moved into the networking portion of the day, with discussions and debates continuing into the evening, providing valuable ideas for next year’s conference. 

The conference was an excellent opportunity to showcase the unique and quality research being produced by CSEP and its partners, and to explore opportunities for the UK to be a pioneer in high growth-potential fields and support the government’s critical economic growth mission. It also demonstrated the willingness of academia and industry to proactively develop bottom-up sector growth strategies to lead the implementation of the Modern Industrial Strategy, which will be essential for the strategy’s success. 

If you would like to read more about CSEP’s research, you can find its reports here. And if you would like to partner with CSEP on any potential research projects, get in touch at csepinfo@imperial.ac.uk.