With the exception of sectors such as aerospace and pharma, the private sector needs to enhance its investment in R&D, but despite Mariana Mazzucato’s insightful analysis there is still insufficient attention on the beneficial wider impact of public sector R&D.

The Industrial Strategy White Paper mentions the pivotal role of the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) seemingly without thinking through the contribution to be made by its own research agencies. These bodies, where thousands of Prospect members work, provide essential underpinning for commercial digitalisation.

‘Made Smarter’ also views digital technologies as at least part of the answer to the UK’s stubborn productivity problem. Interestingly, many workers appear to agree. Despite some concerns about the future impact of technology on jobs, a 2016 survey by the Smith Institute of 7,500 union members found that 87 per cent were keen to embrace new technology and maximise its benefits in the workplace, while 73 per cent believed that it had the potential to improve productivity.

But here’s the rub: Despite evidence that worker voice, participation and involvement have a key role to play in innovation and productivity improvement, only a minority of respondents believe that they are routinely listened to.

Fewer than one in four (23 per cent) agree that their employer or engager gives them a say on how technology impacts their work. Recent IPPR research additionally shows that European countries with the highest level of worker voice also have the highest levels of productivity and private sector R&D.

Conversely the absence of effective collective voice impacts negatively on the experience and quality of work, as does the lack of diversity in tech workplaces. Industry body Tech Nation have recently reported that men outnumber women by a ratio of three to one, reinforcing concerns about barriers to entry and sexism.

There’s also a continuing failure to train and retain women. For example the Tech Partnership are concerned about a decline in job-related training for female IT specialists overall, and that women working on a self-employed basis or for SMEs are particularly impacted. Research by PWC shows that just three per cent of young women say a career in technology is their first choice and 16 per cent have been prompted to think about a tech career, compared with 33 per cent of young men.

Good work matters not only for individuals but for the health of our economy too.

The government has announced a partnership between government, business and unions to help with retraining but this initiative, welcome as it is, pales into insignificance compared to what’s happening in many other European countries.

Prospect has developed a charter for good work which, among other elements, calls for a degree of control over the pace of work and the working environment. In many European countries including Germany, France, Sweden and the Netherlands, such demands would be seen as unremarkable and resolved through social partnership arrangements.

If the UK seriously wants to make a success of digitalisation, decision-makers need urgently to shift from a view that at best sees unions having a role in helping to deal with the casualties to one of formative influence in workplace planning.

The TUC has convened a joint forum to address the action needed to support workers displaced as a consequence of moving towards a lower carbon economy. A similar approach could and should be applied to minimising the costs and maximising the benefits of digitalisation.

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