Key Facts

• The deadline for amendments for the first two line-by-line sittings is the rise of the House tomorrow.
• Witnesses include Tris Dyson from Nesta Challenges and Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser from UK Research and Innovation.
• The Committee will sit in private until the witnesses are admitted.
• UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) invests £8 billion annually in research and innovation.
• ARIA is envisioned to work with a small cadre of visionary leaders who will drive forward transformative ideas.
• Nesta Challenges produced a report called “The Great Innovation Challenge” which explores new avenues for funding innovation.
• The success of ARIA depends on finding the right people who can operate at the edge of innovation.
• UKRI handles approximately 30 freedom of information requests per month.
• Professor Leyser and Tris Dyson advocate for a small, dynamic team with empowered programme managers.
• ARIA aims to fund innovative projects and reach talent outside established research organisations.
• Examples include DARPA's driverless car challenge prizes and the Ansari X prize for space flight.
• ARIA is expected to explore models like Kaggle coding competitions which can engage a wider range of people.
• Esther McVey chairs a Public Bill Committee meeting on the Advanced Research and Invention Agency Bill.
• The meeting involves discussing the £22 billion public sector investment in R&D.
• Daniel Zeichner asks about the uncertainty surrounding UKRI budgets and the cost of being part of the Horizon programme.
• Professor Leyser highlights the need for connectivity across the R&D system.
• The 'valley of death' refers to gaps in funding and support during the critical transition phase from research to marketable product.
• UKRI aims to build career pathways that facilitate movement between academia and industry.
• Witnesses include Professor Marianna Mazzucato from University College London.
• Professor Philip Bond is a professor of creativity and innovation at the University of Manchester.
• Professor James Wilsdon is the director of the Research on Research Institute based at the Wellcome Trust.
• Professor Mazzucato emphasizes that a successful ARIA requires a strong underlying system, collaboration across government departments, and clear missions or goals.
• Professor Wilsdon agrees on the need for clarity on purpose before setting up the agency and expresses concern over delayed effectiveness if this is not addressed.
• Both professors highlight risks of mission capture by particular interests without prior resolution of ARIA's function.
• ARPA started with a mission statement of 'Develop strategic advantage'.
• ARPAs have about 80% staff from industry and 20% from academia.
• DARPA aims for significant multiplicative effects rather than high risk-taking.
• DARPA is challenge-oriented but requires specific missions to achieve its goals.
• ARPA-E, with a budget of $300 million annually, focuses on high-risk innovation and economic impact.
• The UK's 2017 industrial strategy identified four challenges: healthy ageing, clean growth, future mobility, and AI/data economy opportunities.
• Professor Bond suggests a board of less than 10 people with non-executive directors.
• The programme managers at US ARPA are challenged in a 'dragons’ den' style setting to convince capable technical experts.
• Autonomy for the ARIA chair and director is crucial, allowing them to trust brilliant individuals with high integrity.
• The National Academy of Sciences has published a set of probing amendments to the Bill.
• The legislation should include a clause requiring ARIA to complement UKRI’s work.
• There is concern about defining ARIA's mission and function over a cyclical basis, such as a five-year cycle.
• Professor Mazzucato agrees with points made about investment.
• The UK has a below-average GERD (gross R&D spending) over GDP.
• The DARPA model is highlighted for its success in being ambitious and cheaply crowding in business investment.
• Esther McVey (Tatton) manages the timing of the session.
• The next speaker is Daniel Zeichner.
• Remaining time is less than 15 minutes.
• Professor Mazzucato speaks about the potential confusion caused by not naming an industrial strategy as such.
• She mentions that the US Government hired Nobel prize-winning physicist Steve Chu to direct ARPA-E with a $800 billion stimulus programme.
• Professor Bond discusses the focus on publishing papers in academia and suggests ARIA could do something different, focusing more on practical applications.
• Esther McVey is chairing the Public Bill Committee sitting.
• The discussion centres around the Advanced Research and Invention Agency Bill.
• Witnesses include Professor James Wilsdon, Professor Mariana Mazzucato, and Professor Philip Bond from respected universities.