On Thursday 21 March 2024, representatives of the United Kingdom
(UK) and state of Indiana governments attended the Second Working
Group meeting in Indianapolis under the UK - Indiana Memorandum
of Understanding. This meeting follows the first
government-to-government working group discussion held in
December 2022 and an economic discussion focused on the energy
transition held in October 2023.
HM Consul General at the British Consulate in Chicago, Alan
Gogbashian, co-chaired the meeting with Indiana Secretary of
Commerce, David Rosenberg, which was attended by officials from
the respective governments along with a broad range of
representatives across business, industry, and academia. The
discussion focused on ‘Future Frontiers: Applications at the
Intersection of AI, Life Sciences, and Semiconductors’ and
committed to further cooperation in these areas.
Since the last executive-level working group, there has been
a multitude of trade and investment activity under the MoU
including:
- A delegation of Indiana local economic development contacts,
with a focus on sustainability, travelled to the UK and met with
UK government representatives, academia, exporters interested in
the US market, and investors.
- A group of UK electrical grid companies visited Indiana to
connect with local utilities and the Mid-continent Independent
System Operator (MISO) to share UK expertise as the state
continues to diversify its energy mix.
- A mission of 12 female founders from the Northern Powerhouse
region of the UK visited Indianapolis to learn about
opportunities to grow their businesses in Indiana, connect with
female business leaders from across the state, and develop their
US market entry strategies .
- An announcement that the U.S. Department of Energy will fund
the Midwest Alliance for Clean Hydrogen, or MachH2, hub, intended
to create many sources of hydrogen production, including at the
BP Whiting Refinery. The hydrogen could then be used at local
steel mills to cut down on carbon emissions.
Attendees at the Working Group also identified fresh
opportunities for further activities to develop all areas of the
MoU over the coming year, including:
- Smaller focus groups throughout the year focusing on AI,
workforce development, life sciences, and sustainability.
- A round table showcasing UK expertise in the production,
storage and transmission of hydrogen to the Midwest Alliance for
Clean Hydrogen (MachH2) in Indiana and explore ways to develop a
Sister Hub relationship between MachH2 and Teesside in the UK.
- A webinar with the state of Indiana officials for UK
companies to learn more about state procurement and identify ways
in which UK companies can access procurement opportunities,
following discussions between the UK Government and the Indiana
Department of Administration.
- Initial discussions between the UK Government and the state
of Indiana on potential professional engineering
qualifications reciprocity for Indiana licensed and UK chartered
engineers.
- A reciprocal female founders mission from Indiana to the UK,
including a visit to the Northern Powerhouse region of the
country.
The state of Indiana will host the 2024 Indiana Global Economic
Summit in Indianapolis, 23-24 May 2024. The summit marks the
second anniversary of the signing of the MoU between the UK and
the state of Indiana and provides an opportunity to highlight the
progress made on delivery against the MoU and the resulting
strengthening of the ties between the two economies.
