IET public affairs manager Tim Allison on how engineers and technologist must innovate and transform to face the challenges ahead.
“Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Words spoken by President John F Kennedy in his inaugural address, and words that I suspect will be on the lips of whoever walked into Number 10 on 5 July.
That’s because the incoming government will be overwhelmed on day one with requests for funding and proposals for changes to legislation. The process has already started, with ‘manifestos for…’ being published across every sector and region of the UK.
But once the excitement of the general election is over, the new government will likely find that it has little time or budget for fulfilling requests and delivering ambitious plans, and will instead spend most of its time and resources dealing with the immediate challenges and crises that the country faces at home and abroad. Some of these we know are coming – from upgrading our energy infrastructure to meet net zero targets to trying to keep legislation at pace with rapidly emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI).
But the most significant challenges the next government will face remain unknown – like the pandemic – and will require the government and the country to innovate and adapt. That is why, as well as considering what we want from the next government, it is worth taking a moment to reflect on what the next government is going to want from us: what can engineers and technologists do for them? Here are just a few examples.
Disruptive technology such as AI and quantum computing will continue to develop rapidly over the course of the next parliament. Engineers and technologists will of course play a crucial role in designing these technologies, implementing and adopting them across different applications, and supporting the government to develop regulations that drive innovation based on professional best practice, transparency, fairness and security.
Alongside working on these technologies, engineers will also be designing and developing the large data centres needed to power the AI and digital revolution – and finding innovative ways to make these centres more sustainable.
The challenges facing the energy system are already well known: how do we balance energy security, affordability and sustainability to meet a doubling of electricity consumption by 2050?
Innovation and whole system transformation will be key, and engineers and technologists will be called upon to design a coherent system that balances demand flexibility reforms with robust and secure transmission and distribution network upgrades.
Fixing the engineering skills shortage means making the routes into the profession as attractive as possible to young people, and as useful as possible for the employers taking them on.
However, with 80% of the 2030 workforce already in employment, it is not enough to rely on new workers to fill skills gaps – particularly in critical new technologies like AI and digital twins, which have huge potential to boost productivity and innovation. That is why it will be essential to upskill and reskill existing workers – currently only 15% of UK engineering employers offer training in new technologies (IET Sustainability Skills Survey, 2023).
Of course, these are just a few of the areas where engineers and technologists can make a difference over the course of the next parliament. But there will be many, many more, along with unexpected challenges and opportunities where the government will look to our sector’s expertise to engineer and deliver solutions.
