Climate change, energy, food, security and the threat to biodiversity are key challenges imminently facing us. Science and technology hold the key to solving our problems, and with each discovery that reaches us, more progress is made towards our goals.

But how large will Britain’s role be in saving the world?

Have your say now on issues to emerge from this Public Service Events’ conference:

Public sector procurement amounts to £175bn a year. Of this total, possibly £50bn relates to science, technology and construction. It has become almost a mantra that public procurement can support innovation. What are the prerequisites for this to happen, or is this just the latest magic formula espoused by politicians?

Science and Technology Parks can help link UK research to the commercial world and result in new products. What can be done to make this link more effectiveand get more 'bucks' from our research 'bangs'?

There is a huge loss of women from the scientific and technology professions. This represents a huge wasted resource in terms of the investment in training and in expertise and a loss to the economy. We need to retain more women in the professions, as happens in many other countries, to ensure UK remains competitive in science and technology for the medium to long term. How might this be achieved?