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Running faster
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17/12/2007
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A new innovation strategy aims to help the UK compete on the world stage. Lou Reade reports
The Sainsbury Review may sound like a supermarket comparison chart, but it’s actually a report – commissioned by Gordon Brown when he was still Chancellor – to develop a new direction for science and innovation in the UK.
Race to the top takes as its starting point the fact that the UK is under greater global competition than ever before. It already knows what is needed: an effective science and innovation system. The meat of the report is to recommend ways in which this can be improved upon.
“Company strategies based on low costs alone will end up in a downward spiral, each year bringing a new low-cost competitor,” says Lord Sainsbury of Turville in his summary. “[We should] support the restructuring of British companies into high-value goods, services and industries [and] compete with emerging economies in a ‘race to the top’ rather than a ‘race to the bottom’.”
He says that many elements are already in place: a growing level of knowledge transfer from British universities, and the establishment of many high-technology technology clusters. But there are areas for improvement, says the report.
One important area is to improve knowledge transfer – the translation of university research into the commercial sector. This has increased over the last decade, says the report, as has the number of spin-off companies.
One specific recommendation is to double the number of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) – which place new graduates in companies for one to three years in order to work on a specific project. Around 1,000 KTPs are currently running, with 300-350 new ones funded every year – though there is a demand for around 900.
The report also recommends introducing ‘mini KTPs’ to all regions – allowing firms to employ a graduate for 3-12 months.
Another key recommendation – which has already been adopted by Government – is a greater role for the Technology Strategy Board. The organisation was ‘spun off’ from Government earlier this year to begin working at ‘arm’s length’.
The report strongly recommends that it be given a new leadership role “to co-ordinate public sector technological innovation activity…and simplify access to funds for business”.
Other report recommendations include: using intellectual property rights to improve knowledge transfer; targeted support for high-technology companies; a campaign to enhance the teaching of science and technology; increased regional focus and resource on science and technology; and forging links with centres of excellence across the world.
“We can be a winner in the race to the top, but only if we run fast,” Sainsbury concludes.
Positive reaction
Reaction to the Sainsbury Review has been largely positive. Many of the organisations consulted have seen their views reflected in the final report.
Sir George Cox, outgoing chairman of the Design Council, said: “While we have a great research base in this country, we fall behind our competitors when it comes to exploiting new ideas and taking them to market.
“If we want the UK to become known as Innovation Island, then allying design skills to the UK’s scientific base is the best way forward.”
There has also been a positive response from the Government itself, with some of the recommendations already taking effect – such as a greater role for the Technology Strategy Board (TSB).
The Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) particularly welcomed this move, along with the extended support for knowledge transfer partnerships (KTPs), especially for small and medium size companies.
EEF director general Martin Temple, said the strategy would “help enable UK companies to compete at the top table and take advantage of new technologies and markets”.
John Cridland, CBI deputy director-general said: “Lord Sainsbury has rightly focused on the whole ‘innovation ecosystem’, rather than simply R&D, in a review that contains many good ideas.”
He also welcomed the enhanced role for the TSB, saying it could be “a real catalyst for the development of new technology in the UK”.
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Author
Tom Shelley
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