According to the recently renamed Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Green Paper is part of a plan to improve living standards and economic growth through better productivity.
It addresses 10 issues – called pillars. Included in the discussion points are: investing in science, research and innovation; developing skills; and creating the right institutions.
Writing the foreword to the Green Paper, Prime Minister Theresa May said: “Underpinning this strategy is a new approach to government; not just stepping back and leaving business to get on with the job, but stepping up to a new active role.”
Reinforcing the message, Secretary of State Greg Clark, added: “Our aim is to establish an industrial strategy for the long term – to provide a policy framework against which major public and private sector investment decisions can be made with confidence. It is therefore vital that the full development of our industrial strategy should take place with – and not just for – British enterprise.”
But the role to be played by the electronics sector remains unclear; the word ‘electronics’ is used just once in the Green Paper’s 132 pages. Tony King-Smith, who recently took over as CEO of the Electronics Systems Community (ESCO), said: “The lack of mention of electronics is, of course, a concern. However, we need to recognise that in the years ahead, it’s all about industry sectors recognised by government and the person in the street. Electronics is an enabler for so many things; just as steel enables trains and buildings, or pharma enables dealing with flu or GM crops.
“The key thing is that we, as an industry, need to do a much better job of relating how electronics, electrical and embedded software impact events and issues that interest the person in the street. As such, the Green Paper gives us a framework from which we have the opportunity do just that – and I intend ESCO to be a leading force in making that happen.”
The Green Paper can be downloaded here. Comments can be submitted online here or by email to industrial.strategy@beis.gov.uk
