Innovation: Managing risk, not avoiding it
Sir Mark WalportChief Scientific Adviser to HM Government
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• Wellbeing, health, security & resilience
• Knowledge translated to economic advantage
• The right science for emergencies
• Underpinning policy with evidence
• Advocacy and leadership for science
Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser
Credit: iStockphoto
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GCSA Themed Annual Report
•Topic of report all pervasive in work as GCSA.
•Growth driven by science and innovation.
•Innovation to deal with global challenges (ageing populations, scarce resources, infectious diseases, carbon emissions).
•Innovation held back by poorly framed discussions about risk
•If governance of risk goes wrong, miss out on major potential benefits, or suffer needlessly.
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Where does risk come in?
Natural Events
Credit: Arctic-Images/Getty Images
Credit: Arran Moffat/CC BY 2.0
Credit: PA
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Where does risk come in?
Human
Credit: @Boston_to_a_T/Twitter
Credit: _chrisUK/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Credit: ilfede/istockphoto
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• Risk?
• Hazard
• Exposure
• Vulnerability
• Uncertainty
• Threat
Using common principles about language to raise the level of conversations
Credit: Warren Photographic
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We live in an Information Age•Technological change•Innovative generation•Changing demographics•Interconnectedness
The innovative world we live in today
Credit: Steve Jurvetson/CC BY 2.0 Credit: iStockphoto
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A growing global population requires innovation
The challenges we face include:
•Climate change
•Water security
•Food and agriculture
Credit: CraneStation/CC BY 2.0Credit: Glyn Baker/CC BY-SA 2.0 Credit: Daily Mail
Credit: Alamy
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Holding a Wider Conversation about Risk
• Values and lenses
• Who pays?• My pain, your gain• Science meets
values• Unanticipated
Consequences• New Challenges
Credit: Focus Features
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Regulatory Challenges
• Economic regulation – A systems approach
• Asymmetric incentives
• Encrusted regulation
• Regulation when science meets values
Credit: Red Flag Act
Credit: iStockphoto
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What can science contribute?
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Conclusions
1. National priorities for resilience aligned with evidence and risk-based approach
2. Coherent and structured approach to assessing impact of risk in policy, regulation and crisis management
3. Regulators and regulated industries – Right governance structures and incentives
4. Science-based EU – Policy rooted in robust scientific evidence
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@uksciencechief
www.gov.uk/go-science