Electronic Specifier's Weekly Roundup

What does the Spring Budget 2023 mean for innovation?

At Spring Budget 2023 the government is building on the foundation put forward at Autumn Statement 2022, with a plan to deliver on three of the five key priorities set out by the Prime Minister in January: to halve inflation, grow the economy and get debt falling.

The Spring Budget prioritises:

• Employment: boosting labour supply, including by encouraging the inactive into work
• Education: providing everyone with the skills and support they need
• Enterprise: providing the right conditions for businesses to succeed
• Everywhere: ensuring the benefits of economic growth are felt across the UK

Sarah Glichriest , President, Circus Street comments: "The Government has made it clear that it wants to get more people back into work and encourage people to retire later in life. To make this achievable the UK has to completely revaluate its relationship with skills training. The reality is that many people in the workforce do not have the right skills to adapt to new technologies and ways of working. This has a direct impact on productivity, business resilience and innovation. This skills gap is even wider for many older people and those that have been out of the workforce for a number of years."

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UK Space Agency backs Rolls-Royce nuclear power for Moon exploration

The UK Space Agency is backing research by Rolls-Royce into how nuclear power could be used to support a future Moon base for astronauts.

Minister of State at the General Department of Science, Technology & Innovation , George Freeman FRSA MP , said: "Space exploration is the ultimate laboratory for so many of the transformational technologies we need on Earth: from materials to robotics, nutrition, cleantech and much more...

Abi Clayton , Director of Future Programmes for Rolls-Royce said:?"The new tranche of funding from the UK Space Agency means so much for the Rolls-Royce Micro-Reactor Programme. We’re proud to work collaboratively with the UK Space Agency and the many UK academic institutions to showcase the best of UK innovation and knowledge in space...

Find out more here!

The world’s first general-purpose humanoid robot

Figure , a robotics startup based in the United States, has unveiled its plans for ‘the world’s first commercially viable general purpose humanoid robot,’ named Figure 01.

Founder of the company, Brett Adcock , who also founded ARCHER AVIATION SERVICES CAMBODIA , which has successfully developed and deployed into testing a commercial passenger eVTOL aircraft, is up next, who offers an innovative mind behind the wheel of the company. Working alongside, Figure’s Chief Technology Officer, Jerry Pratt .

Beyond these two highlights, over the past year, Figure has been busy hiring, sniping, and persuading more than 40 engineers from a variety of sources including IHMC , Tesla , Boston Dynamics , GoogleX , and Waymo – most of which have prior experience specifically in humanoid robotics or similar autonomous systems

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