Haldane: Covid vaccine programme a model for successful innovation policy
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The former chief economist at the Bank of England has praised the UK’s Covid vaccination programme for being a model of successful innovation policy.
In a foreword to a policy paper published by think tank Policy Exchange, Andy Haldane said the vaccine initiative “involved a clear mission, project management by Government… all underpinned by large-scale public sector financing procurement.”
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Haldane urged policymakers to apply the lessons learnt from the programme to future policy once the Covid pandemic recedes.
He laid out recommendations for policymakers to follow to guide innovation policy, including the need to combined expertise and resource from a variety of sectors and commit long-term funding to programmes.
The principles were set out in a foreword to a policy paper by Sir Geoffrey Owen, head of industrial policy at Policy Exchange and former editor of the Financial Times, called New directions in innovation policy.
In the paper, Owen argues for a reset in the relationship between key government departments to “make the UK a science superpower.”
Andy Haldane left the Bank of England recently after 32 years of services at the central bank.
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