The United Kingdom’s new Department for Science, Innovation and Technology should be seen as more than an opportunity for the space industry and tech start-ups: It is a critical opportunity to improve U.K.-funded international research and ensure equitable research partnerships essential to addressing our most pressing global development challenges.
The creation of DSIT was announced last month, while the new Science and Technology Framework was published this week. Previously, the government’s science brief was housed within the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which was the largest department outside of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office to provide core multilateral official development assistance, or ODA, in 2021 — totaling £303 million ($323 million).
DSIT and its Secretary of State Michelle Donelan are thereby taking on a vital part of the U.K. ODA budget for international research — in the context of a shrinking general ODA budget since the 0.7% of gross national income commitment was abandoned. The budget cuts of the last two years have led to research projects suddenly having to end or shrink, thus breaking up research partnerships that had taken a long time to establish; as well as generating a lack of trust from international partners to enter into future research collaborations with the U.K.
About the author
Melissa Leach
Melissa Leach is the director of the Institute of Development Studies. She co-founded the ESRC STEPS (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) Centre, with its pioneering pathways approach to innovation, sustainability, and development issues. She is also an independent member of the Strategic Coherence of ODA-funded Research (SCOR) Board.
