BA Festival: David King calls for gear change among innovative thinkers

At the 2008 BA Festival in Liverpool, BA President David King calls for a gear change among innovative thinkers.

The former UK chief scientist will use his presidential address at the BA Science Festival to call for a gear-change among innovative thinkers.(For BBC report, click here.)

He will suggest that less time and money is spent on endeavours such as space exploration and particle physics. He says population growth and poverty in Africa also demand attention.

"The challenges of the 21st Century are qualitatively different from anything that we've had to face up to before," he told reporters before the opening of the festival, which is being held this year in Liverpool.

"This requires a re-think of priorities in science and technology and a redrawing of our society's inner attitudes towards science and technology."

In 2010, the BA Festival comes to Birmingham, which it will make one of its four hubs, returning every four years. The Society is actively involved in helping the BA plan this exciting venture.