Felicity Bunce finds Britain and India turning research into a product by giving it a grander title, a longer programme list and someone else to invoice.
At the eighth UK India Science and Innovation Council in New Delhi, Britain and India agreed technology, research and AI partnerships. Felicity Bunce, of the Department of Strategic Enthusiasm, spotted the loophole: make innovation more innovative, then create a programme to supervise it. Committees bring budgets, logos and credit.
The government statement records UK Research and Innovation and India investing more than £450 million since 2008 in 290 projects and 1,665 publications. Joint publications are up 238 per cent since 2013, with citations 120 per cent above the global average. Dr Anika Rao, director of the Office for Measurable Excitement, said research was “ready for the next stage of being reported as progress”. The announcement has progressed.
That stage arrives with the UK India Technology Translation Partnership, linking UK Catapults to India’s Science and Technology Clusters, plus InnoXchange. Nikhil Shah, of the Office for Ideas That Have Left the Building, said discoveries get “a route, a pilot and three opportunities to become a meeting”. A pilot can start, then not fail. India will invest £3 million over five years at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source.
Genomics, batteries and energy storage join the queue before the next council. Mara Ellis, registrar of the Department of Commercial Outcomes, says, “Once an idea has passed enough gateways, it becomes impossible to tell whether it is a product or an appointment.” The first product to market will be a fresh grant proving everyone involved is still needed.
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