Imave: University of Liverpool
Social distancing and decreased access to labs may have negatively affected businesses, says techUK
The UK’s technology trade association has warned of the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on R&D activity.
In written evidence to an inquiry by the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee on the role of technology, research and innovation in the Covid-19 recovery, techUK said that technology, research and innovation organisations had to find new ways of interacting, engaging and working with its staff, customers, and partners during the pandemic.
“It is likely that lockdown could have had an impact on the development of research and innovation projects being conducted by universities and businesses,” it said.
For example, it said, decreased physical access to laboratories “may have put a pause to many industry-led R&D activities and projects”, while supply chain disruptions and possible problems procuring equipment under Covid-19 “may show to have a knock-on impact on R&D projects that were underway during the crisis”.
However, techUK notes that it is “too early to understand the full impacts this may have had”.
For those firms that have experienced declining research output as a result of Covid-19, techUK warned that this could lead to questions being raised about the future scaling-up of research activities, both internally and externally.
“If firms have seen their research disrupted many may find it difficult to put forward a strong investment case and secure the funding they need to take cutting-edge research to the next level,” it said.
“This is an issue where further consideration should be given and if this is seen to be happening where support from government may be needed to ensure innovative, cutting-edge research projects happening in the UK can continue at the level and scale seen before the Covid-19 crisis.”
In addition, techUK identifies barriers to the commercial application of research that have emerged from the crisis, particularly in sectors where firms have had problems accessing study participants for clinical trials or market research.
“It is possible that this will have limited their ability to test products and services in the real-world and could lead to long-term impacts on the development of innovations in areas such as sustainable technology, where many of the barriers to commercial development and uptake are non-technical and behavioural.”
Moreover, it points to concerns raised by the scientific community about the long-term impact of social distancing rules in scientific research and innovation “where ideas and breakthroughs can come from face-to-face environments, such as the research lab, and more immediate collaboration”.
techUK also outlined a number of short-term measures the government’s R&D roadmap could take to support research and innovation, including long-term investment in key computing infrastructures and more adaptable and flexible funding support.
The submission comes as a report from the University of Liverpool on 3 December, which surveyed North West business leaders from a range of sectors, found 40 per cent of businesses would have had to cut jobs or fold completely had they not adopted emerging digital tech during the response to Covid-19.
“Few businesses have been left unchanged by Covid-19,” said Andrew Levers, executive director of the Institute of Digital Engineering and Autonomous Systems at the university of Liverpool. “One constant between those that have weathered these challenging months effectively, and others which have scaled quickly to capitalise on new demand and markets, has been the effective adoption of digital technology.”
The report found that almost 80 per cent of businesses have increased investment in digital technology in direct response to Covid-19.
For example, businesses are increasingly using “Internet of Things” devices and sensors to reduce human foot traffic in laboratories, manufacturing facilities and supply lines, to adhere to social distancing requirements. And, the report says, many are now using more augmented, virtual or extended reality to support sales, research and development, and onboarding new staff.
“Crucially,” it says, “more than half of businesses which have invested in new digital technology during the pandemic have already seen a return on investment.”