12th Christmas Piece- Industry

A final part of 12 Christmas blogs articles, that expand on the Innovation Map theme - industry and the part it plays in innovation. Given everything focuses on innovations being products and services to market industry is the real deliverer and all other organisations play a supporting role.

Looking at companies carrying out R&D there are three categories:-

1/ Mainstream manufacturing companies 

Where R&D is an enabling approach towards new innovation to market.

Often there is a focus on the large manufacturing companies that perform R&D such as Rolls Royce, GSK, and Jaguar Landrover. It is worth noting that in the UK if you look at companies that are active players in R&D there are a number of interesting factors. Firstly that foreign owned companies i.e. inward investors account for some 35% of R&D spend. Next R&D spend and innovation within SMEs accounts for about half of the total, looking at companies such as Intrinsiq & ARM. The critical issue to to make sure that the various public sector approaches eg through the TSB are focussed on high growth large opportunity markets. Weir pumps with its niche markets is a good example.

2/ Service Companies

Seen widely in areas such as engineering, construction delivery and consultancy eg Arup or in delivery innovations eg Babcock and SERCO, or in financial services, London Stock Exchange. The NESTA work on measuring service innovation has gone a long way towards a recognition that these very successful parts of the UK economy are constantly innovating business models and offerings making the UK a global leader in these areas. If we pick up on facts from my Innovation Map we see the Management Consulting industry worth upwards of £8 billion, second only to the US and more important on a per capita basis than any other country.

3/ Research & Technology Organisations

where the purpose of the company is to realise value from the process of R&D and innovation. There are a number of companies loosely connected through the main body AIRTO and other such as TTP and Cambridge Consultants. We also see a much wider range of boutique R&D companies in areas such as Chemicals, software, photonics and creative media.

This is a key area for the UK where inventiveness and a capability to reach outside the boundaries of sciences or sectors to develop unusual and cross cutting possibilities. The UK is renowned for this capability and it gives the lie to the statements that the UK has high level Academic excellence but fails to translate that into products on the market.

The other myth is that the UK has limited high technology mass manufacturing and fails to exploit ideas and early stage innovation. Given the value added is often at the R&D end, where the UK does well, tying into business and services innovation we can see why the UK has such a strong diverse economy. It is also worth looking into how manufacturing and services are defined as often services provided are critical parts of manufacturing processes and approaches.

If we look at the general picture certainly there are areas where the UK could do better :-

A) building medium sized companies as world leaders in niche areas

B) consistent support for mechanisms rather than 3-5 year cycles and constant re jigging of the landscape. The KTN model and the Knowledge Transfer Programme are examples of continuing very successful approaches that need substantial periods of time, say a decade, to settle and prove their worth whilst given steady consistent support.

C) Recognising and shouting about our success. As one of the strongest nations in innovation having improved dramatically in the last 30 years and sitting very comfortably as a flexible and successful economy.

The ability to work across boundaries is extremely important, and anything that industry or the public sector can do to improve cross working is worth pursuing. Not forgetting the major elements that inward investors and export led innovation deliver.

The UK as a principle trading nation benefits from a free market in goods and services and all of the elements that make up the UK Innovation ecosystem. That free flow of people ideas and capital needs to be maintained at all costs if we are to benefit from a more globalised world.

Business support from Professional services

This piece deals with underpinning elements that offer frameworks for the development of commercial innovations and is the penultimate note for this Christmas season. Apologies if this sounds like an extended advert for UK capabilities however various overseas visits demonstrate that what we take for granted in the UK is missing or in a poorer state elsewhere in the world.

Looking at a disparate group of companies, organisations and partnerships that provide the professional support and backup for developing business and innovations the common factors are expensive professional groups, deep expertise and complex environments. 

 

Starting with each the prime area of IP professionals. Patent specialists and trade mark and IP professionals providing the approach and legal steps to protect IP. They also provide a much wider task of identifying conflicting patents and IP that will stymie protection attempts. Delivering the first step in setting up a solid set of intellectual assets that can provide the basis of a fund-able business.

In turn lawyers provide the underpinning of a business and allow the creation and development of the the company as a corporate entity as well as the development of the various property, asset use and employment that support a thriving business.

The final group are in the often overlooked areas of design, marketing and creative services that position and develop markets for innovations. Business may be driven by the ideas and passions of the inventors ignoring market pull and development of opportunities within market segments.

In the best Science Parks, Incubators, Universities technology exchange set ups and through business development arenas we see the inclusion of these various supporting bodies of professionals linked in at an early stage they provide a reality check for those with limited proposals and underpinning for ideas that offer real potential.

Within the UK we have a cadre of experience professionals and commercial entities keen and capable of working with innovative companies of all sizes as well as a stability of regulation and a clear non corrupt system that allow the rule of law not favours to prevail. They play a vital and often overlooked role in supporting highly innovative and fast growing companies whilst supporting the minority of ideas and people that spin out from Universities and the research sectors.

The UK as a major provider of high quality company services and a world centre for the global offering of services is a fantastic place to access expertise. We can also see that the elements for successful companies and for the UK offering as a a stable and comfortable landing ground for inward investments, is a major factor in UK successes.

Technology Transfer organisations - a view

Lets start with the simple straightforward facts and see where they lead us!

Technology Transfer organisations within Universities play a critical role in supporting technology transfer from academia to industry and have developed in the UK over the last 20 years to an effective and efficient set of organisations. However the most effective approaches are wider than the simple methods of IP identification , patenting and realising value via licensing and company creation. For example the expertise in IP identification and exploitation generated by bodies such as ISIS and Imperial Innovation is fantastic but is only part of the story.

I've discussed before than IP realisation on is not the major part of an Academic offering and the better and wider thinking organisations have taken on the role of optimising general engagement with industry. The routes include direct contact, skills development for, and with industry and the creation of longer term partnerships that involve joint resource investment and exploitation by the best people. Working with various Universities over the past 6 years engaging them with UKTI and supporting their international engagements it is clear that looking at a range of Universities such as Kings College, Exeter, Hertfordshire, Coventry, and Salford get the overall idea. Which is that engaging with the external world not only supports the greater UK offering but also ensures impact of academics and staff is much greater. I should add that other Universities also have their areas of excellence and the government line that the UK University sector is world beating has to be recognised.

Within the 160 UK Academic Institutions there exists a healthy competition and a wide variety of different strategies, strengths and strategic industry links. The one trend that I really support given such a large and healthy set of bodies is cooperative approaches, especially overseas. Honourable mention here of SetSquared and the West Midlands Universities. The development of real partnerships has to deal with the academic arrogance seen in long established Universities. This may be justified in brilliance of minds, where I wouldn't try and compete!, but certainly offers a one way route to increasing irrelevance.

Recently in a number of places I've been putting forward the idea that in London we have the leading Academic City of the World, bar none! Lets hope that there are enough people with vision and drive to make more of that fact for the benefit of the UK as a whole.

As background the key organisations in this area include PraxisUnico, Auril and the wider group body of the Institute of Knowledge Transfer. My concern is that as bodies they focus on the process identification, protection and exploitation of IP neglecting the wider offering that Universities can provide. Although that is tempered by the many individually brilliant and effective people, sometimes stymied by the academic hierarchy.

Learned Societies

UK expert bodies have a long tradition of promoting innovation across the world. The Royal

Society is a premier international organisations for distinguished scientists whose members, including many Nobel prize winners, have always worked closely with industry to develop knowledge and create the conditions for new technologies and innovative practices.

If you look at the formation 250 years ago luminaries such as Robert Hooke and Christopher Wren married scientific endeavour and real life application to advance science and the uses of sciences. The current fellows are elected on the basis of their scientific success and there has been a movement away from industrial engagement. However the Royal Societies venture funding and the engagement of the society with government and others to promote and support their part of the innovation landscape recognises the importance of high level science.

The Royal Academy of Engineering has played a similar role, and the critical importance of engineering means that the fellows of the Academy are major figures in many companies and as senior academics. The heart of the UK capability in manufacturing and other industries.

A list of the five learned academies in the UK ranging in age from decades to centuries is below. They are independent charitable bodies supporting researchers, influencing policy and engaging with the public.

The Royal Society

The Royal Society of Edinburgh

The Royal Academy of Engineering

British Academy

Academy of Medical Sciences

A sample of five other institutions include :-

Society of Biology

Royal Society of Chemistry

institute of Physics

British Computer Society

Institute of Engineering and Technology

The UK contains some of the oldest and most illustrious institutions and showcase the depth of capability and the underpinning for innovation in the UK. We often see concerns about other countries developing their abilities but with an underpinning of organisations and people together with attractiveness to international excellence the UK is strongly placed to continue as a leading innovative country. Worth noting is how these organisations have not only extended their international activities but engage with other innovation organisations to deliver a coherent UK approach.

research facilities and their use

A change of direction from description of an area with a few ideas, to a cri de coeur to ensure UK research capabilities recognise real life issues.

There are approx 160 academic institutions in the UK, some 30 public sector research establishments any number of corporate labs, and Large Research Facilities such as the European Bioinformatics Institute, Diamond and Harwell European Fusion Research Centre.

Concentrating on the public sector what do they generate and how do they play a part in the UK innovation system?

I've previously mentioned for industry the critical aspect of these places is the provision of skilled people for industry. Academic excellence and the research output is the parallel line helping in the development of new and existing industry development. For me the interesting part is how these facilities in totality enable the UK to innovate through the development of knowledge and using a partnering and cooperative approach.

Within the UK there is a recognition of the importance of playing a strong part in UK PLC. The tie between blue skies research, problem solving research and industrially focussed problem solving is essential to avoid the problem of academic arrogance, balkanisation and isolation. Which I'm glad to say is less of an issue in the UK than many other countries.

All leading to my strong support for new research measurements approaches and a hope that will it be extended to other institutes! In current financial climes the justification for research needs to be simple and compelling with a recognition that it is not just about markets but about fundamental development of knowledge and a recognition of where it cab be used. And if you're really nice to me I'll give you a list of instituations worth talking too and others who aren't.