In fusion, collaboration is both a necessity and an opportunity
With more public and private funding in fusion, the expectations in terms of spillover benefits are increasing, but these can only happen through enhanced cross-sector collaboration. Across the world, fusion research has historically been funded through public programmes, resulting in a huge breadth and depth of expertise and intellectual property within the public sector. But things are changing. Now, there are also over forty private fusion companies with innovative ideas working on diverse approaches to delivering commercial fusion power (Fig. 1a). Investors are interested in the promise of a groundbreaking clean baseload energy source, and a supply chain is starting to take shape. Public and private funding sources for fusion development are increasingly looking for the demonstration of near-term benefits through societal, economic or financial impact and, additionally, for private fusion companies through more immediate revenue sources. This shift in the funding environment and the expectations of the funders, including the tax paying public, means that spillover benefits from fusion into other sectors are increasingly important for both its success and the case for continued investment. A key factor in achieving both commercial fusion and spillover benefits is through cross-sector collaboration.