The UK Business Secretary, Lord Mandelson, has asked the Technology Strategy Board to guide the development of a network of technology and innovation centres that will help deliver the industries and jobs of the future. The Board has been tasked to work with industry, stakeholders, and wider government including the Research Councils, Regional Development Agencies and Devolved Administrations on the implementation of the recommendations in the Hauser review, a report by technology entrepreneur Hermann Hauser. The report looks at leading technology and innovation centres in other countries and recommends that the UK builds its own network.
Welcoming the report, Lord Mandelson said it recognised the UK was strong in many technology areas and the centres to be developed would help exploit that commercially. They would take new discoveries from the point where university researchers recognise the potential for commercialisation and help develop the concepts to a stage where the private sector would be able to commercialise it.
"Too often in this country we have been brilliant at research and let others walk away with the commercial benefits of development. If we are to develop new industrial capabilities in Britain, we have to get more D out of our R&D," said Lord Mandelson. "Centres can play a vital role in bridging the gap between research and the market, strengthening our national capabilities in innovation.
"I am now determined that the UK builds a capability for the long term, through a more strategic and sustained approach to investing in these centres. Hauser is right that these centres need long term, predictable funding and I am committed to making that happen. I want to understand the UK's strengths, weaknesses and where there are gaps we need to invest in."