Inbound boss of Cummings’ brainchild ARIA withdraws
The boss appointed to lead the scientific research agency cooked up by Dominic Cummings has withdrawn from the role just six weeks after being appointed to lead the organisation, according to reports.
Dr Dr Peter Highnam, currently deputy director of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has withdrawn from the role leading the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA) for personal reasons, Sky News’ Mark Kleinman first reported.
ARIA was the brainchild of Cummings during his time as Boris Johnson’s chief adviser, and has been set up with the brief of maintaining the UK’s position as “a global science superpower”, according to an announcement from the government last year.
The new innovation body has an initial budget of £800m and the “freedom to fail” in its research projects.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said that ARIA would have “a much higher tolerance for failure than is normal, recognising that in research the freedom to fail is often also the freedom to succeed”.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said Hingham’s leadersip would ensure the “funding of high-risk programmes that will continue to push the boundaries of science and technology.”
“Under Dr Highnam’s leadership, ARIA will ensure the benefits of research and development will be felt in our society and economy over the course of generations, and that the technologies, discoveries, products, and ideas the agency invests in are supported to create the industries of tomorrow,” he said.
Hingham is still likely to undertake advisor work for ARIA, sources told Sky News.