This is a research topic created to provide authors with a place to attach new problem publications.
Research topics below this in the hierarchy
Research topics above this in the hierarchy
Research problems linked to this topic
- How can shipping and freight data be used to complement our understanding of the Rotterdam effect and trade flows international hubs?
- Which methods best evaluate of a country’s regions and sectors of dynamic comparative advantage?
- Which criteria are most effective in establishing long-term sectoral growth potential?
- What further data sources could help us build a more complete picture of the investor journey, including who is involved?
- How are emerging digital services and technologies likely to affect the future of exports and supply chains across sectors?
- How can comparative advantage inform future trade and investment interests across regions and sectors? What are the limits of comparative advantage here?
- What impact do non-bank financial institutions providing export finance have on national financial markets?
- To what extent does evidence support the case for selective export promotion policy?
- What are the common costs of entering new markets for UK small and medium sized enterprises and what are the success rates in recovering these costs through new sales?
- To what extent is export support for large businesses effective in providing opportunities for small businesses in the UK supply chain? How regionally specific is this relationship?
- What is the impact of large exporters on the UK economy beyond exports (for example. national and regional growth such as employment, investments, R&D, productivity and GVA)?
- What are the wider impacts associated with exporting, beyond firms directly affected? How does this vary by business size, export experience and sector?
- Which technologies are going to be important for economic and national security over the next 10 years?
- Evidence on the determinants of foreign investment on UK start-ups.
- What incentives need to be put in place to ensure that the UK semiconductor industry remains competitive?
- What are the economic trade-offs of achieving capacity improvements in mobile networks over the coming decade? How does achieving this exclusively through increased use of spectrum compare to network densification? In comparing strengths and weaknesses, what might be an optimal combination of both?
- How does wide-spread take-up of gigabit connectivity affect businesses on local and national level? What impact might it have on (i) productivity, including Business-to-Business transactions [for further relevant questions on productivity see Digital Infrastructure section 1], (ii) competition, (iii) economic performance, (iv) human capital? How does this differ for different business sectors?
- How might wide-spread take-up of gigabit connectivity affect an individual’s daily life? What impact might it have on; (i) spending/saving habits, (ii)occupation, (iii) location of residence, (iv) education, (v) health (including wellbeing)? How does this differ for different demographic groups?
- What outcomes of international R&I could be monetised?
- What research techniques are most effective in evaluating how trade policy drives prosperity?
- What is the role of inward and outward investment in economic performance indicators, for example national and regional growth, employment, and macroeconomic stability?
- What datasets, like street works data, could be used to verify open market review (OMR) plans of suppliers?
- Where non-tariff measures behave as fixed costs to trade, how can these be most effectively incorporated in trade modelling?
- How can we quantify the impact of good regulatory practice?
- How can we quantify the impact of individual barriers on trade and investment?
- How are new and emerging geospatial technologies supporting market growth and wider economic, social and environmental value?
- How can various data sources inform how we identify, address and resolve market access barriers relating to goods, services and foreign investment?
- To what extent are intellectual property rights enforced where there is infringement, and how practices differ across sector and business size?
- Further understand investment, export and domestic market access for safety tech products and services in the UK and beyond.
- How can we improve modelling of UK port activity and the impacts of possible policy measures on the maritime sector?
- How can geospatial analysis and mapping help monitor trade patterns during recovery and target business support?
- What challenges might developing economies face when engaging with the international economy that developed economies might not? How can the UK best support trade recovery in developing economies?
- How can policy measures best encourage and support businesses to recover and return to international trade post-crisis, given differing attitudes to risk?
- What different patterns can be observed in trade and investment flows following exogenous shocks (such as COVID-19), compared to endogenous shocks (such as a financial shock) to the economy?
- How can we better understand trends in geospatial investment internationally, including into the capture of data (such as satellite, aerial imaging and surveying programmes) and the development of geospatial applications?
- How do changes in technology usage and market structure change the risks faced?
- What is the nature of international investment in science and tech related R&D?
- To what extent does innovation and competition between companies promote network technology evolution and interoperability (e.g. between systems, equipment, etc)? For further relevant questions on market competition and cooperation see BDUK section 2.
- Which of the future technologies will the UK have a comparative advantage in or face particular challenges in regard to global competition? How can the UK build strategic advantage in key technologies and how can the benefits be measured?
- How important is rail coverage versus road coverage, and are there industry targets to provide improved rail coverage?
- Building on from the Assessing the UK’s regional digital ecosystems research published by DSIT, what could be the most efficient solutions in addressing the differing maturity of local ecosystems between, and within, UK regions?
- What are the current telecoms supply chain/RAN market concentration risks and how are they evolving? What has been/will be the impact of the economic and geopolitical risks on achieving greater market diversity. How could future technological trends affect market concentration risks in telecoms supply chains?
- How do we best measure the growth of the tech sector within the digital economy?
- What productivity benefits can businesses expect from investing in tech upskilling?
- To what extent can investment promotion optimise UK export markets? What are the limits to intervention under specific conditions of market failure?
- What capability and capacity in the food and farming industry is needed to deliver future rural community policy needs?
- What can the current evidence and available economic data tell us regarding price modelling, taking into account global supply chains where relevant?
- Which businesses or sectors consistently have lower cybersecurity adoption rates and is this affected by regulation levels in those sectors?
- How could incentives for cyber security adoption and change, to reducible risk, be posed to organisations? Is there a need for different types of incentivisation for different sectors or differing sizes of organisations?
- What are the barriers and opportunities for external investment in UK cyber sector companies? To what extent are these specific to cyber versus reflecting the UK investment landscape overall? What can be done to encourage investors to look at cyber companies based outside London and the South East?
- What evidence is there for not embedding adequate cyber security in highly commercialised or direct-to-consumer tech? What evidence is there on cybersecurity not being embedded adequately in sectors with lower regulation?
- "How does the upgrade in mobile connectivity from 4G to 5G impact end users, both positively and negatively? Additionally, what changes in usage does this upgrade cause for both residential and business users? How can the impact of this uplift be monetised?"
- "How does introducing 4G mobile coverage to areas which previously had no coverage impact the entire area? How does it affect the local industries and does it allow for new emergent industries? How does it impact local ways of life, tourism, educational facilities, safety for residents and visitors, and leisure activities? Are there international case studies of this happening?"
- Identifying the distribution of productivity benefits from telecoms infrastructure investment (fixed and wireless): (i) to what extent can, or has, telecoms investment reduce(d) the difference in productivity between areas of the UK? (ii) what is the impact of telecoms infrastructure on the differences in productivity between firms within sectors (e.g. can it help address the issue of ‘long-tail’ of low productivity firms)? And how do the productivity impacts differ between different industries? (iii) what are the barriers to scaling up wireless enterprise applications for growth and how are they changing? (iv) How do productivity impacts vary across public mobile networks, private mobile networks (e.g. private 5G) and fixed networks including the role of Wi-Fi? For further relevant questions on productivity see BDUK section 9.
- To what extent is wide-spread connectivity contributing to a growth in digital citizenship? How can we determine what is attributable to BDUK’s interventions and monetise their benefits?
- For how long will gigabit capable speeds be sufficient for (i) residential premises; (ii) business premises; (iii) public sector organisations?
- How does technology usage affect competitiveness in the market, for example delivery rates and value for money? How does this differ across technologies and organisations?
- To what extent is the market and actors within it able to withstand environmental and climate shocks to deliver a continuous and reliable service?
- To what extent are the decisions being made by network suppliers in where to build equitable both at the beginning of and during delivery (specifically considering the impact of descoping premises from delivery)?
- How will the mobile market be affected by reaching 95% coverage of the UK and increasing competitiveness across regions of the UK by 2030?
- What is the financial capability of the broadband subcontractor market and how may this change over the next decade?
- To what extent can investment in the market be predicted? What factors incentivise and disincentives investment into a supplier or subcontractor?
- What incentivises and supports sharing of knowledge to promote sector-wide best practice in a competitive market place?
- To what extent is overbuild an issue within the market and what characteristics make it a more or less favourable delivery decision for suppliers?
- What is the financial capability of the broadband altnet market and how may this change over the next decade?
- How would a retrenchment of the telecoms market affect: (i) market structure and market behaviour, (ii) outcomes for delivery, (iii) the general public?
- How would future market consolidation impact connectivity for businesses, public sector organisations and residential premises on different networks? What recommendations should be made to the UK government to prepare for these scenarios?
- To what extent are network providers effectively planning their networks to ensure delays and additional cost are avoided?
- To what extent is tactical blocking of fibre connectivity an issue within the market and which methods are most effective at overcoming it or accounting for it in strategic decision making?
- To what extent would future market consolidation affect the different actors within the market and the performance of the market as a whole?
- We would like to understand how clinical trial activity is affected by the broader commercial environment and, in particular, price regulation and other cost control measures.
- We would like to understand the extent to which the planning system limits investment activity in the sector.
- Data on risk-adjusted returns on UK start-ups relative to other countries.
- Reliable estimates of the relative productivity of the different factors in the health production function for the NHS.
- Evidence on whether the commercial environment has a material impact on launch prioritisation for new drugs.
- More detailed and reliable data on all the relevant indicators included in our publication.
- Data on indicators relevant for international comparisons in genomics.
- Detailed company data on both current expenditure and investment in AI.
- Detailed data on R&D spending at the company and sector level.
- Detailed company and sector level data to enable estimates of gross value added and labour productivity.
- Which risks from AI are the most urgent to mitigate?
- To what extent do AI companies face sufficient incentives to invest in risk measurement, prevention and mitigation?
- We need to understand who the UK technology companies are, who owns them and who invests in them.
- RDI outside of the Greater South East: How can the government boost RDI outside of the Greater South East to boost productivity, pay, jobs and living standards? Also, how can the UK attract RDI investment in these clusters from private actors?
- Innovation clusters: Where are UK RDI clusters and what are the associated skills and investment in these clusters?
- Value of investing in talent: What is the short-term and long-term value (including monetary value) of UK RDI talent schemes and investing in PhD students including international talent?
- Investigating the impact of the space sector on wider UK economy and society. What services are provided by the space sector?
- Studying the relative competitiveness of the UK space sector in an international context. How do UK space sector companies compare to international rivals?
- The geography of innovation: How does proximity to research and innovation infrastructure (i.e., PSREs, Research Council Institutes, Catapults, etc.) affect innovation activity in businesses, research organisations and universities? How can this infrastructure be used to support the growth of clusters of R&D excellence across the UK?
- We are interested in estimates of the size of the future market for particular technologies.
- We are always interested in comparing the situation and activity in the UK to what is happening in our global partners and competitors.
- We are interested in understanding situations where we are heavily reliant on a particular country in order to source key components.
- Sometimes there can be a lack of certain specialised facilities or infrastructure that is a barrier to technology companies scaling up within the UK.
- Sometimes there can be a lack of certain specialised facilities or infrastructure that is a barrier to technology companies scaling up within the UK.
- Providing sufficient scale up capital for fast growing tech and deep tech companies is always a very important topic, as part of the global race for leadership.
- What enables UK space sector companies to thrive – and what stops them from thriving?
- Financial sustainability of research: What impact would various changes to the long-standing approaches to research funding have on research sustainability?
- How is the space sector likely to grow and change, and what will that mean for the UK space sector?
- Marginal value of RDI: What is the marginal value of RDI in a programme? Many different research projects are funded in open research calls - how does the average value of these research projects compare to the marginal value of the last research project chosen?
- Does international R&I activity in UK universities incentivise the creation of local clusters or agglomerations of business and research organisations? Are there concrete examples of this? What are the causal factors?
- R&D Tax Credits: What impact will tax credit changes have in attracting private R&D investment?
- How does international R&I activity affect the local economy?
- Competitive Advantage: How does the UK RDI performance compare internationally? Which sectors need the most support?
- Can any of these impacts be monetised?
- What new data could be collected to estimate rates of return on international R&I?
- To what extent are the potential risks posed by highly capable AI systems a barrier to economy-wide adoption, and how could progress in AI safety overcome these barriers? How can we ensure that the UK population has the right AI skills for life and work?
- Market power: How will labour demand and supply elasticities change?
- How can we better understand the barriers to AI adoption?
- How should the UK position itself in terms of the global AI market? What sort of AI businesses should we particularly be looking to attract?
- Productivity: What are the possible direct and indirect productivity impacts of AI?
- Sectors: Which sectors are more likely to benefit from AI and which are more at risk from the downsides?
- How will AI impact competition and innovation?
- Quality or quantity: Does AI enable the delivery of better outputs and increased quality from firms and businesses?
- Indicators: What are the rapid indicators of AI impact on the labour market?
- How can we best establish which UK research and technology organisations are undertaking work for overseas companies, and which have operations outside of the UK?
- How important is transport to trade flows? How might international trade evolve and how might this affect our transport network requirements?
- Using regional and local studies, what is the impact of export finance services on localised markets? How does export finance services support regional growth and development?
- How do UK businesses compare with non-UK businesses in their use of trade finance and credit insurance?
- What are the best practices for the design and evaluation of export finance products and services?
- What are the global trends developments in the variety and scale of export finance products and services?
- Analyse and explain the common features of organisations that are making the largest economic contribution within an AHT subsector (e.g. type, size, location of businesses). What lessons can be learnt to drive future growth policy?
- What data and methods can improve estimation of intra-regional trade within the UK?
- How can we ensure appropriate availability and uptake of insurance to achieve better outcomes?
- To what extent do international trade expos help build the reputation of the UK and its regional strengths as a destination for international projects?
- To what extent are trade remedies – applied under WTO agreements and bilaterally as part of free trade agreements – effective in achieving their stated objectives. How do they affect trade flows (including where jurisdictions adopt different duties)?
- How can DWP best support places, regions and sectors in levelling up? What approaches work best in addressing employment skills development, employment skills shortages and employment skills mismatches across the UK?
- To what degree do barriers to procurement affect UK export and investment performance?
- Is there opportunity to transfer knowledge and skills from hydrocarbon technologies
to operators of new and emerging technologies in the energy transition?
- What are some of the key drivers and enablers for take-up of gigabit-speed connectivity for (i) residential premises; (ii) business premises? [question of relevance to Digital Infrastructure, as seen in their section 1]
- How does wide-spread take-up of 4G mobile connectivity affect businesses on a local and national level? What impact might it have on (i) productivity, (ii)competition, (iii) economic performance, (iv) human capital? How does this differ for different business sectors?
- What are the current and future clean maritime growth opportunities for the UK (including green jobs)? What is the expected growth for green shipping in the UK and what are the environmental and economic implications?
- "What kind of methods exist for tracking data usage from tourists or transient visitors to an area where 4G mobile connectivity has recently been installed? How can this be used to monetise and evaluate the socio-economic benefits of installing 4G mobile connectivity?"
- What will gigabit capable speeds not be sufficient for, and will this interact with overall network capacity and/or government ambitions? Does this differ for other characteristics of connectivity such as bandwidth and latency?
- To what extent is the market and actors within it able to withstand economic shocks?
- How can we robustly model and value changes in land-use arising from transport interventions?
- What are the most relevant emerging technologies for maritime and shipping (e.g., autonomous vessels)? What are the risks and opportunities for the UK across economic, social, and environmental dimensions?
- What is the relationship between transport improvements and local economic growth?
- How has Covid-19 impacted the financial resilience of UK aviation companies as well as the wider aviation supply chain, and what impact will this have on the Government’s strategic objectives? Have these impacts modified the market structure or associated labour markets?
- What conditions need to be in place for transport investments to transform local economies? These conditions may relate to demographic factors, complementary investments, or government policies for example. What are the micro mechanisms that underpin how workers move across space due to better transport connections?
- What is the current and potential future impact of climate change on creative businesses, their operations and productivity?
- In the event of a trade shock, how can data requirements for taking rapid decisions be met using real time indicators (RTIs) and non-traditional sources of data? How can data science evaluate and improve the quality and reliability of RTIs?
- What can international best practice tell us about using data to manage the shock and recovery?
- What long-term trade opportunities and risks may arise from changes in the use of technology and ways of working resulting from COVID-19?/
- How sensitive is demand for creative industries goods and services to changes in price?
- What are the impacts of EU exit on trade in the creative industries and how does this compare to other industries?
- How can forecasting methods inform long-term total factor productivity growth?
- Which methodologies could be used to more accurately forecast the wider impact of major cultural events on local economies and societies?
- Assess and explain the causal impacts of cultural events at a local and national scale (e.g. economic, social, and cultural).
- How legal migrant workers are recruited into which markets and their characteristics How the supply of foreign workers interacts with indigenous labour supplies, local skills gaps and retraining programmes.
- To what extent has COVID-19 and cost of living crisis impacted on the drivers for private giving and cultural organisations’ approach to donations?
- How has COVID-19 changed the way in which businesses in DCMS sectors operate and what does this mean for future financial resilience and lessons learnt for future economic shocks?
- Assess and evaluate the most effective methods of measuring the impact of tourism marketing, to demonstrate its effectiveness and value for money.
- What is the emerging evidence of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economies and productivity of cities and regions, coastal/rural, and deprived areas? How does this vary across the different parts of the UK?
- Identify the key drivers/determinants of productivity within AHT sectors, including which policies can increase the economic productivity of organisations.
- What impact have technological and geopolitical changes had on global investment trends and has this altered investor sentiment?
- How do delays in obtaining finance affect international buyers’ confidence in UK exporters?
- What does the evidence show about how the pandemic has affected people’s preferences about where they live and where they are able to work (e.g. rural areas versus cities)? How are these preferences different across cohorts, such as socio-economic, and locations? Are any such trends likely to be long-term?
- What does the evidence show are the factors that create the greatest potential to build agglomeration economies that benefit local areas and residents in question? And what are the key elements that bring agglomeration benefits– housing, transport, local skills, R&D and business dynamics? Are there costs to agglomeration that that worsen outcomes for residents and neighbouring areas?
- Which factors, or characteristics, make some areas perform better than others at different spatial scale (towns, cities, regions)?
- To what extent can the private sector deliver investment promotion together with DIT?
- How can we evaluate additionality of government support in investment promotion?
- What are implications of advances in communications technologies for trade in services?
- How can the categorisation and measurement of trade in services by the modes of supply be developed and optimised?
- How can open source data, big data and data science techniques inform us about the emerging trends in trade across different sectors?
- How can we best evaluate the barriers to trade in services and their impact on trade flows?
- How can we assess how much value is created in each stage of a global supply chain and how do “smile curves” vary across products and sectors? For example, how can we estimate the value of intellectual property within global supply chains?
- What are the holistic economic and fiscal impacts of online gambling protections?
- To what extent do barriers to goods trade affect services trade and vice versa?
- What is best practice in developing the international classifications underpinning trade measurement – including product codes for goods, classifications for services and their relationship to sectors?
- As the gambling reforms are introduced, we want to gather evidence as to how they are providing benefits and analyse their impacts as the sector continues to change.
- How can the Trade in Value Added (TiVA) dataset inform our understanding about regional or global supply chains, including re-manufactured goods?
- How can we effectively evaluate countries’ relative technology readiness levels (TRL), by technical area, sector and overall strategy? To what extent does the commercial, regulatory and legal environment impact on TRLs? To what extent can market access restrictions to some sectors have wider impacts on trade within other sectors?
- What factors make countries and regions attractive as destinations for investment in high potential, early stage, technology-based entrepreneurs?
- How can various data sources inform how we identify and target support to large businesses which are high value or volume UK exporters?
- How can we best measure the impact of large exporters at a sub-regional level (for example, agglomeration effects, supply chain effects)? How can we measure the structure and interactions in the supply chain in exporting sectors?
- How can we evaluate additionality of government support in trade facilitation?
- How can we isolate the impact of export finance on trade in specific goods and services?
- What further data sources could help us build a more complete picture of the exporter journey?
- How much does UK businesses’ ability to offer financing options for their products affect their likelihood of exporting and competitiveness?
- What is the persistent of exporting businesses in a market? What characteristics impact longevity of exporters in a market?
- Better understand and quantify the extent to which investment in grassroots facilities improves participation, including for underrepresented groups and in different parts of the country.
- How does export finance help in developing an integrated supply chain?
- To what extent do business strategies include exporting as a means of achieving business growth? How does this vary by business characteristics?
- Analyse and quantify, in economic and wider social values metrics, the legacy benefits of large scale sports events.
- How can we effectively measure the long-term sectoral impacts of shifting consumer preferences for greener goods?
- What are the sub-regional implications of future trade agreements and trade policy more broadly
- What patterns are we likely to see in AI diffusion and adoption throughout the economy?
- What are the wider impacts associated with trade remedy measures, beyond firms directly affected?
- How useful is comparative advantage when identifying and evaluating opportunities across UK regions and sectors?
- How can insights from behavioural economics and nudge theory inform business engagement with DIT products and services?
- How have different sectors (aerospace, financial services, telecoms), sizes of business, regions and the self-employed been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, and how might they be impacted differently by the recovery phase?
- How can we measure the market access restrictiveness of a country from a UK perspective?
- What are the economic costs faced by businesses across different sectors, in relation to conformity assessment?
- To what extent does regulatory divergence affect bilateral trade flows?
- To what extent do the impacts of market access barriers have varying effects according to the size of firm? How does this vary by the type of barrier?
- How can we measure the impact of a trade agreement on value added trade? How does this differ by sector?
- How can we understand the value of provisions on mutual recognition of conformity assessment in trade agreements?
- To what extent are the provisions in trade agreements utilised in practice? Which sectors or businesses are most likely to use them?
- How will COVID-19 affect global technological adoption rates and what will that mean for disruptions to global trade and investment patterns?
- How effective is trade and investment policy in creating economic security and resilience that safeguards against shocks? What can we learn from comparing different country responses?
- What effect does COVID-19 have on business models and supply chain structure? How does the renewed focus on shortening or regionalisation vary by sector?
- Increasing understanding of the macro-economic benefits of resource efficiency. Developing metrics and measurement techniques to identify key areas for intervention to achieve these benefits and to monitor progress
- What are the social, economic, and cultural impacts of marine policy, management, and interventions on stakeholders and coastal communities?
- How do we respond effectively to challenges including a rapidly growing population, changing consumption trends, finite land use, resource constraints, changing climate, globalised markets, and black swan events such as COVID-19 all of which impact on food and farming system security and supply chain resilience?
- How can rural communities and businesses contribute to and benefit from the attainment of national economic, social, and environmental objectives?
- Analysis of social and economic interactions with the environment and natural resources. What are the links and trade-offs between biodiversity, climate, sustainable management of forestry, soils and peatland restoration, economic development, food, health, wellbeing, and global poverty?
- How will different groups of society, particularly in rural communities, be affected by changes associated with the move towards Net Zero and the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan? How can positive effects be adopted more widely and negative impacts be mitigated?
- What is the UK’s long-term requirement for natural resources from global markets? Which resources are exposed to production/supply risks owing to geopolitical, macro-economic, pandemic, or environment factors and what are the likely impacts of change to the UK economy?
- What are the trade-offs between primary resource extraction versus reclamation of resources from waste streams in the context of resource security? How circular can the UK economy become?
- How can standard methodologies measuring greenhouse gas emissions be applied to the creative industries and its sub-sectors? Which, if any, aspects of standard emissions measurement needs to be adjusted to creative industries activities while ensuring consistency and cross sector comparisons?
- What is the economic value of diversity and inclusive workplace cultures?
- How can we quantify the economic risk of workforce skill gaps and how this impacts economic productivity within the CI sub sectors?
- How are creative businesses using technology to increase their productivity, is this through reducing costs, increasing their access to consumers/audiences or increasing the value of their products or services?
- How does CI activity lead to spillovers of knowledge and innovation to other sectors?
- What impact is increasing consolidation in the local and national press sectors having on press plurality, and to what extent is consolidation necessary to secure financial sustainability of the sector?
- What are the underlying causes of the financial challenges facing the press sector and how does that vary across the national and local sub-sectors? What impact are the financial challenges having on the economic, social and cultural value of news provision in the UK?
- What is the size and nature of the gig economy? What different models of
employment are there and how will this change in different sectors in the future?
- What data gaps may exist in the financial and economic performance of AHT sectors and wider cultural engagement? How can these data gaps be addressed?
- What are the most appropriate methodologies and indicators to measure the environmental and economic benefits of deploying and maintaining repair and maintenance systems when protecting cultural assets? What are the benefits of this?
- Define the outcomes and impacts of the legacy of cultural events and develop the methods and/or models that are most effective for evaluating the long-term impacts of cultural events.
- What are the major skills gaps in the AHT sectors and how could that impact on sector growth and wider social and culture outcomes?
- Analyse and explain the interactions across the cultural sector value chain and the relative importance of parts of the value chain to growth and sector resilience to understand how future policy interventions should be targeted.
- What is the value of subsea communications cables to the UK economy, and should the UK seek to attract or incentivise the expansion of the subsea cable network?
- How might COVID-19 shape wider social attitudes towards trade and investment?
- How can we best support and grow the UK Maritime Sector, innovation in maritime and potential related green jobs? What roles do maritime sectors play in the wider productivity of the UK economy?
- How do we ensure a sustainable economic recovery post COVID-19 with environmental outcomes built in; and what is the potential for rural communities and businesses to contribute?
- What is the relative value of light touch, digital or automated support services in foreign investment support versus intensive face-to-face services?
- Assess socio-economic information to support and incentivise a change to secure the long-term sustainability of seafood exploitation whilst reducing the environmental impact of exploitation
- Determine the socio-economic costs of plastic litter on marine wildlife, ecosystems, and maritime industries. The costs incurred from changing to other materials, including the potential benefits to be made from new industries including small medium-size enterprise.
- Which international supply chains do creative businesses rely on? What are the levels of supply chain resilience in the creative industries, and how easily can they switch to alternative markets?
- Which CI sectors have a comparative advantage/face particular challenges in regards to trade in services and trade in goods, and how does this vary by company size?
- Evaluate the growth trajectory of the UK safety technology market, and the extent to which market growth supports DSIT online safety and prosperity objectives.
- How does the UK compare to other digital economies and how can we robustly measure this?
- What is the cost of lack of diversity both in the digital sector and in digital and technology jobs? What are the potential impacts and benefits of a more diverse digital workforce?
- How could interventions be improved to reduce cyber risks posed by organisations and the economy? Do some interventions work better for some sectors, sizes or maturities of a company? How can we best visualise this and classify? Does organisational structure play a role in how effective certain interventions are? Is there a need for different types of intervention for different sectors and structures?
- What are some of the supply chain issues and risks associated with fibre deployment in the next 10 years? To what extent is the UK able to self-sufficiently, domestically produce, fibre and ducting for the needs of the market and to what extent is it reliant on imports?
- Detailed company data on tangible and intangible assets, as well as use of materials, to produce estimates of both labour productivity and total factor productivity.
- Will investment in AI lead to reduced public sector costs in the long run?
- Building a stronger overall picture of the space sector. Mapping and explaining how the sector works, how its constituent parts intermesh, how the UK space sector is connected to the rest of the world, how academia and industry interconnect.
- What activities – from government or other actors – contribute to monetised outcomes?
- What will the future of AI look like within the UK, and how can we monitor our progress towards the many possible scenarios?
- Occupations: What are the characteristics of occupations that put them more at risk of replacement/change or give them a comparative advantage? Over what time frame will they be impacted?
- Understanding gaps in finance, whether in particular sectors, for particular people (e.g., women) or compared with overseas is always of interest.
- To what extent are the impacts of COVID-19 temporary and which represent permanent trends to supply, demand and business models? What opportunities and challenges do these changes in behaviour present for businesses across DCMS sectors, both in the short-run and longer-term?
- Analyse and explain the structure of the UK commercial art market (paintings and other tangible art products) and how much the UK commercial art market contributes to the wider economy.
- Which AHT sectors are growing, mature or contracting? What are the implications for targeting government interventions?
- To what extent is the market and actors within it able to withstand economic shocks?
- To what extent has the UK’s competitiveness in transport infrastructure changed relative to other countries? And what lessons can we learn from short-term changes internationally that can be implemented long-term domestically? For example, how has UK’s transport WEF Competitiveness Index scores increased/decreased compared to other countries?
- How has the delivery of goods changed and what is the impact of this?
- What will be the appetite and ability of future transport sectors to invest in innovation/R&D?
- How can transport investment release additional land for housing and deliver wider economic benefits?
- What is the economic value of the different parts of the aviation sector, including ‘general aviation’, and what Government intervention will enable the sector to support innovation and skills development as the “grass roots” of the aviation sector?
- How recruitment of cheap (migrant and native) labour balances against investment in new technology.
- Is the housebuilding market more concentrated/less intensely competitive than other markets? How has this changed over time, and how does the UK compare in this respect with other countries? What are the implications of this?
- How can restrictions on trade in services be effectively measured across sectors, given data limitations?
- Do longer term funding packages result in better outcomes? What’s the evidence?
- How can we best characterise the attitudes and behaviours of UK exporters, to inform our understanding of the internationalisation process for SMEs?
- How do the public’s attitudes towards globalisation vary, and what drives these differences?
- How can we use novel datasets to understand capital investment needs across the UK, including by sector and region?
- Which statistical methods can help reconcile foreign investment and trade asymmetries between partner countries?
- Which countries excel at facilitating the commercialisation and export of new technologies and why?
- How does investment and export promotion engage with varied supply chains, given small and medium enterprise internationalisation?
- How can we effectively measure levels of ‘servitisation’ and ‘servicification’? [footnote 1]
- What is the potential of ledger technology for the measurement of financial services trade?
- What is international best practice to define and measure trade in services? This may include digital trade, e-commerce and cross-border data flows.