Where digital meets decarbonisation. Can the UK turn convergence into competitive advantage?

By Marc Ambasna-Jones 12 Nov 25 Reading time: 3 mins

One of the less-discussed consequences of the UK’s latest R&D funding push is how fast digital and green innovation are beginning to overlap. According to Chris Preist, professor of sustainability and computer systems at the University of Bristol, advances in supercomputing, machine learning, and AI are already reshaping how discovery happens.

“Exceptionally large search spaces of options can now be explored quickly, identifying promising avenues for deeper exploration and cutting off dead-ends sooner,” he says. “Innovation often requires identifying where best to push forward in a large space of options – and so it will significantly speed up where strong expertise already exists to draw on.”

That expertise, Preist adds, is already visible in areas such as Bristol. The region’s growing deep tech base could see “further contributions in areas such as biodesign and engineering biology for climate-resilient agriculture, and materials science for energy storage and battery technologies.”

It’s a pointed observation. The new £55 billion government commitment to R&D may aim to unlock breakthroughs in health and clean energy, but its impact will ultimately depend on how effectively the UK’s digital capacity accelerates those discoveries. The connection between computing power and carbon reduction is no longer theoretical.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) describes the funding as a chance to “turn cutting-edge science into real-world breakthroughs.” Yet as TechUK put it recently, “the UK’s net zero direction is firmly digital.” In other words, the nation’s sustainability goals and its digital transformation agenda are now inseparable. Energy efficiency, climate modelling, smart grids, even low-carbon manufacturing all rely on data-driven systems and computational design.

In that light, the new funding may do more than stabilise research spending after years of uncertainty. It could shift the centre of gravity for UK innovation.

Beth Thompson, executive director of policy and partnerships at Wellcome, called it “a status-quo settlement that keeps R&D on a steady footing,” welcoming the recognition of fundamental science. But she also urged a higher bar.

“Looking ahead we need to raise the national ambition, such as by setting a target to lead the G7 in research intensity. This would galvanise private sector confidence and investment, create real economic growth and make breakthroughs that benefit our lives and health.”

That ambition feels especially relevant as deep tech firms look to commercialise slow-burn research. AI-enhanced modelling, digital twins, and automated experimentation are all speeding up discovery cycles in areas from materials and biodesign to quantum computing, advanced manufacturing and energy systems. The opportunity now is to connect those digital capabilities with the UK’s cleantech priorities, and to scale them regionally.

Preist’s view that innovation “speeds up where strong expertise already exists” suggests that the UK’s regional clusters could become focal points of that convergence. In the South West, for instance, initiatives such as SETsquared, QantX, and the REWIRE Innovation and Knowledge Centre are already aligning digital systems, power electronics, and sustainable manufacturing. Other regions with established strengths in materials, sensors, or bioengineering may find a similar advantage.

The logic is clear enough that when digital meets decarbonisation, discovery accelerates. What remains less certain is whether policy, infrastructure, and private capital can keep pace. Hopefully it can. As Thompson warns, maintaining momentum will require national ambition.

For now, the signs are promising. The UK’s biggest technological and environmental priorities are finally starting to reinforce each other. The challenge, as ever, is to turn convergence into competitiveness, and innovation into both commercial and environmental impact.

Marc Ambasna-Jones / Editor

Working as a technology journalist and writer since 1989, Marc has written for a wide range of titles on technology, business, education, politics and sustainability, with work appearing in The Guardian, The Register, New Statesman, Computer Weekly and many more.