Earlier this month the UK government pledged £600 million (US$968 million) to science projects in recognition of the country's need to develop a more high-tech economy to promote sustainable growth. The Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) and the UK charity Nesta are urging the government to supplement this investment with the £4 billion it is shortly due to receive from the sale of the 4G radio spectrum, which will revolutionize broadband speeds for mobile devices.

Our 4Growth public petition to reinvest this windfall in science and technology (see its4growth.co.uk and go.nature.com/kft87z) has already collected almost 2,000 signatures, and has attracted widespread support from politicians and scientists.

To drive technological progress, 4Growth makes detailed recommendations for targeted investment in people and skills, research infrastructure and commercial scientific enterprises.

This would be a handsome return on the efforts of innovators such as James Clerk Maxwell, Tim Berners-Lee, Guglielmo Marconi and John Logie Baird, without whom we wouldn't even be using 4G technology — let alone raising money from it.