The meeting is prompted by the government’s industrial strategy green paper unveiled on 23 January and will drive an Industry 4.0-themed ‘Industrial Digitalisation Review’ that is expected to be completed this summer, with interim findings reported in the coming months.
Secretary of State Greg Clark, Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, will receive the team's outputs.
Held at the Digital Catapult Centre in London this morning, the Industrial Digitalisation Review leadership team will engage with large and small businesses, alongside academics, to see how the design, development and deployment of digital technologies can drive increased national productivity
Juergen Maier, CEO Siemens UK and Ireland, is chairing the review, which is tasked to assess how the UK can benefit from the accelerated adoption of digital technology across advanced manufacturing.
The review is backed by the newly formed Productivity Council, formation of which was prompted by the Productivity Leadership Group set up in 2015 and chaired by Sir Charlie Mayfield, chair of the John Lewis Partnership. The Council will be private sector led and will receive £13 million in seed funding from the government, phased over three years, it was announced in last year’s Autumn Statement.
Mayfield is also part of the Industrial Digitalisation Review leadership team that is meeting today, with others present including Phil Smith (chairman, Cisco UK & Ireland), Carolyn Fairbairn (director general, CBI) David Stokes (CEO UK & Ireland, IBM), Oliver Benzecry (CEO of Accenture UK), Roger Connor (head of global manufacturing, GSK) and Nigel Stein (CEO of GKN). (The full team is listed at the end of this article.)
Nick Hurd MP, Minister of State at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Secretary of State Greg Clarke will also be attending.
The following are the UK industry challenges that the leadership team are expected to look at:
The leadership team will also identify industrial sectors having the maximum opportunity to benefit from the adoption of industrial digitalisation technologies, looking at global best practice. They will also identify the digital technologies with the highest likelihood of being able to create new industries and new jobs.
These include artificial intelligence, robotics, augmented reality solutions, automation technology, robotics, blockchain and data analytics (full list at end of article).
The Industrial Digitalisation Review leadership team will also identify the key policy interventions that will encourage advanced manufacturing and broader industry to invest in new technologies.
Says Juergen Maier: “Our review is about defining how the UK can best adopt radical new technologies that will boost productivity and create new high-tech jobs across manufacturing and industry. We want the end result to be a sector deal for manufacturing that makes a real difference to companies, regardless of their size or market.
“It is not yet too late for the UK to take the global lead in this space, but we are in danger of falling behind, if we do not take up the challenge now – so our aim is to position UK manufacturing and industry at the heart of a new global industrial revolution, much like it was over 170 years ago when we [Siemens] first started doing business here.”
Adds Climate Change and Industry Minister Nick Hurd MP: “The launch of the Industrial Strategy Green Paper shows our commitment to improving growth and driving productivity across the whole country. Industry is best placed to identify what firms really need, and we want them to come to us with proposals to transform and upgrade their sector. The independent Industrial Digitalisation Review will set out how the UK can maximise the use of digital technology to increase productivity, and create the high-skilled jobs we need for a successful, modern economy.”
‘Industrial Digitalisation Review’ leadership team members in full:
Phil Smith (chairman, Cisco)
Carolyn Fairbairn (director general, CBI)
David Stokes (CEO UK & Ireland, IBM)
Roger Connor (head of global manufacturing, GSK)
Ralf Speth (CEO, JLR)
Oliver Benzecry (managing director and chairman Accenture UK),
Professor Andy Neely (Institute for Manufacturing director, Cambridge University)
Sean Redmond (CEO, Vertizan)
Grace Gould, (Entrepreneur in Residence, Local Globe)
Brian Holliday (managing director, Siemens Digital Factory UK)
Sir Charlie Mayfield (chairman, John Lewis – attendance and advisory only)
Dick Elsy, (chief executive at High Value Manufacturing Catapult)
Jeremy Silver (chief executive at Digital Catapult)
Nick Roberts (CEO, Atkins UK & Europe)
Nick Wright (Pro VC, Newcastle University)
Adrian Gregory (CEO, ATOS UK)
Technology in scope
Artificial Intelligence
Augmented reality solutions
Automation
Robotics
Blockchain
Data analytics
DATA for increased productivity and commercial gains
High performance computing/Big Data
Highly integrated communication systems
Industrial machines processes and the internet of things
IT and cloud-based platforms
3D printing
