A CRISIS demands response and inevitably fixes attention firstly to the short-term. COVID-19 has demanded rapid changes personally and collectively as we try to adapt to the situation forced upon us. That said, however impatient we all feel for a return to normal, there is some time and opportunity to consider how best to keep working towards a resilient economy.
As governments explain their frameworks for making decisions as to how and when to end lockdown, we need to keep sight of the long-term and the recently adopted emphasis on climate change.
The phrase ‘unchartered territory’ is rapidly wearing thin, but having a strong sense of direction can still lead us to our intended destination.
A sustainable, fair, responsible economy, building on distinctive local strengths, confident in global competition, can remain among our goals.
Retaining a balance of short and longer-term perspectives is vital all sectors, including my area, scientific innovation. I am fortunate to lead a team of world-class experts in the field of photonics (aka lasers and optics) in Glasgow. Our job is to make ideas reality, using our expertise to help create products with real benefits to society.
We do this across a whole range of sectors where Scotland excels, including healthcare, security and defence, renewable energy and environmental sensing. Understanding the needs of commercial customers, for both quick wins, especially in the current climate, and long-term gains, shapes our thinking and our priorities. Progress in research and development for industry involves rigour, discipline and no small measure of creativity and patience.
Central Scotland has an enviable capability in optics, photonics and their underpinning of the new Quantum Technologies (technology reliant on the phenomena of quantum physics to allow breath-taking advances in measurement, navigation, secure communications and computing). Indeed, Scotland is at the forefront not only throughout the UK, but globally.
We have decades of academic strength with a highly educated industrial workforce and this sets us apart and gives us a competitive advantage. This is an unheralded gem in Scotland. The momentum gained in QT, particularly in the last five years, must not be lost now in an unthinking return to what went before. We have to continue to build on technical leadership and recognise the importance of generating opportunities in areas that yield rich returns in terms of income and employment generation.
Other areas in which Scotland is leading the way include space, gaming, life sciences and subsea engineering. These spaces too have great promise and benefit from local innovation. There are new spin-outs and start-ups which will suffer disproportionately as a result of the crisis. These young companies must be given the time, attention and support reflecting their growth potential, not their current headcount.
Business as usual is never inevitable. Larger companies are already contemplating more acquisitions to give them access to the supply chain, while others are looking at dual supply of components from more than one country. These early attempts to build resilience from global effects confirm that we must do more than merely restore.
Global competition demands that we recognise and support the sectors which are flourishing. Work in these new industries must be pursued with vigour and pace: they are the seeds of much greater future gains.
Simon Andrews, executive director, Fraunhofer UK Research Ltd
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