CSEP HealthTech Bootcamp: Empowering Innovation for the UK's Health Sector

Health, technology and investment policymakers came to Imperial's new economics and productivity centre to discuss growing the UK HealthTech sector.

The Imperial Policy Forum and the Centre for Sectoral Economic Performance (CSEP) hosted a ‘HealthTech Bootcamp’, bringing together industry, policymakers, regulators, and local government representatives to discuss strategies for bolstering the UK’s health technology sector.

This initiative is the first of a series of sector-specific bootcamps, aligned with CSEP’s core mission to improve the competitiveness of the UK economy by promoting evidence-driven policies that drive growth, enhance productivity and support the development of high-growth sectors like health technology.

Held at Imperial College London’s South Kensington campus, the bootcamp addressed critical challenges and opportunities for UK healthtech manufacturers, with a focus on enabling sustainable growth and leadership in international markets.

The day featured a range of presentations, group discussions and workshop activities emphasised the need for collaborative efforts between industry leaders, policymakers, and academics to align innovation with actionable strategies.

The bootcamp addressed the urgent need for improved investment strategies and pro-innovation regulatory frameworks in the UK, a priority also highlighted in the government’s recent Invest 2035: Modern Industrial Strategy.

CSEP: A Catalyst for Progress

The bootcamp follows the publication of a new CSEP HealthTech sector strategy, co-produced with the Association for British HealthTech Industries (ABHI), highlighting HealthTech’s £13bn Gross Value Added (GVA) in the UK. The report proposes targeted tax incentives, regulatory reforms, and closer collaboration with the NHS to accelerate innovation adoption.

CSEP’s focus is on advancing understanding of the sectoral context for innovation and competitiveness in the UK. Academics are working in partnership with industry to conduct a series of studies on ‘Sectoral Systems of Innovation and the UK’s Competitiveness.’ These set out the state-of-play and potential ways forward for different sectors, focusing on their gross value added and how this compares internationally, the new technological opportunities, and policy recommendations for government and industry.

This event follows the recent launch of the centre, where Lord David Sainsbury gave crucial insights into why the UK had been suffering from poor productivity performance since the global financial crisis and the challenges of increasing the UK's competitive advantage in high-value added sectors.

Read: CSEP’s recent report into the UK HealthTech sector (pdf), with detailed economic analysis and policy/regulatory recommendations for change.