Abstract
Coordinating research effort around shared strategic priorities is essential if the UK is to convert world-leading academic excellence into sustained innovation, industrial competitiveness and long-term sector growth. The UK ORE sector benefits from a range of established innovation support mechanisms, including the Energy Innovation Needs Assessments (EINAs), which help identify technology innovation priorities. At the European level, several Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas (SRIAs) provide longterm frameworks for coordinating research and innovation activities across key sectors, including offshore wind and ocean energy. However, while these frameworks provide valuable guidance on innovation requirements, there is currently no equivalent UK ORE sector-wide report dedicated to identifying and coordinating the underpinning research challenges that will shape the long-term development of the sector. The absence of such a report highlights a notable gap within the UK’s innovation ecosystem. To address this gap, and support both innovation and accelerated sector growth, the Supergen ORE Hub SRA identifies the underpinning research priorities required to enable disruptive, crosscutting and long-term progress across the UK ORE sector. In doing so, it provides a strategic framework for coordinating research activity, informing investment decisions and aligning future research efforts with the evolving needs of industry, policymakers and wider society. The SRA is intended to serve as a valuable resource for a broad range of stakeholders across the UK ORE sector. However, it is primarily designed to support two key audiences:
• First, it provides innovation funders and funding organisations with the evidence base required to design, target and coordinate future research and innovation calls around the identified priority areas within the UK ORE sector. In doing so, it aims to support more strategic investment decisions and encourage the development of coherent funding pathways that can accelerate progress from research through to commercialisation.
• Second, it provides the wider research community with greater visibility of the priority challenges facing the sector. By establishing a shared understanding of future research needs, the SRA can help align activities across the innovation ecosystem and ensure that future interventions are targeted towards areas capable of delivering the greatest long-term impact.
In addition to catering to these primary target audiences, the SRA will also:
• Enable policy makers to create a connected pathway of research, innovation and commercialisation interventions to ensure climate and economic ambitions are achieved.
• Assist industry to combine efforts, leverage existing research and access research expertise and facilities