WIREDGOV

Monday (23 June 2025) marked the launch of the Government’s Industrial Strategy, a comprehensive plan for economic growth focused on eight key sectors: advanced manufacturing, clean energy, creative industries, defence, digital and technologies, financial services, life sciences, and professional and business services. 

As part of this strategy, the Digital and Technologies sector plan specifically highlights the critical role of semiconductors in driving innovation and supporting economic growth. 

It's encouraging to see semiconductors explicitly recognised for their enabling and transformational potential, featured alongside technologies such as quantum computing and artificial intelligence as part of the six identified “frontier technologies.” 

What semiconductor support was announced?  

The Digital and Technologies sector plan outlined the following, much of which reflect the needs of industry identified in techUK’s UK Plan for Chips: 

• Establishing a new UK Semiconductor Centre to bring together industry, academia and government, and provide cross-sector leadership on semiconductor innovation, alongside ecosystem building and business services. With funding of up to £19 million, the Centre will also develop long-term R&D and infrastructure roadmaps to guide future investment in semiconductors.  
• Funding Innovation and Knowledge Centres (IKCs) to help bring chip technologies to market, with £25 million to launch two new IKCs in Neuromorphic Computing Hardware and Heterogeneous Integration System Design joining existing IKCs in Photonics and Power Electronics.  
• Boosting the UK’s chip design capability through a new Chip Design Enablement Programme with up to £5 million initial funding to provide state-of the-art tools, talent support, and technical expertise to boost innovation in chip design, including for AI and emerging architectures. 
• Improving the semiconductor talent pipeline through a £35 million UK-wide skills programme, including semiconductor bursaries to boost enrolment in priority degree courses and semiconductor-focused STEM outreach activities. A new Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Semiconductor Skills will help build deep technical expertise in strategically important areas.