UK government has announced the creation of a new R&D agency
The UK government has announced the creation of a new R&D agency that will focus on high-risk high-reward scientific research with initial funding of £800 million.
The Advanced Research & Invention Agency (ARIA) is to complement the work of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a non-departmental arm of the government that operates across the UK and allocates resources towards science and research projects, such as startups developing emerging technologies.
The creation of ARIA is also part of the government’s R&D Roadmap, published in July 2020, which aims to increase UK investment in R&D to 2.4% of the nation’s GDP by 2027, as well as increase public funding to £22 billion per year by 2024 to 2025.
The agency’s model is to be based on the US Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), which helped develop technologies such as the internet and GPS. The US agency has now been succeeded by DARPA.
The agency’s goal will be to identity and support “the most ambitious, cutting-edge areas of research and technology”, as well as create highly skilled jobs across the UK.