In a technological age it is unsurprising that central government deals with many issues that either centre on technology or have a technological dimension.
One important strand concerns innovation. Governments support innovation because many companies believe that much of the benefit from innovation would be captured by others, so they therefore tend to under-invest. Government can help to shift the balance in favour of innovation through fiscal and infrastructural interventions. We are called on for expert advice on how to encourage and enable companies to undertake more R&D and new product development.
Another strand concerns economic development. Though few governments would now claim to be ‘picking winners’ as they did in the past, many nonetheless want to transform their national economies into being knowledge driven, and to ensure that they capture a high proportion of the value added in global supply chains. Governments therefore sponsor horizon scanning and conduct assessments of the prospects for particular sectors. In such exercises we use our knowledge of technologies and industries to offer expert assessments and to map out possible interventions.
Governments also set and maintain measurement standards, and we advise several countries on how to match their national standards infrastructure to social and economic needs.
