The UK hosts some of the world’s most innovative thinkers and prestigious institutions. But our meagre productivity growth since 2008 suggests we can’t translate our ideas into products and services that boost economic growth. Promising startups and spin-outs can’t get the investment they need to commercialise ideas and established firms struggle to find and engage with radical ventures.
Institutions that broker connections between businesses and universities are a big part of the answer. Examples include Research & Technology Organisations (RTOs), Focused Research Organisations (FROs), Catapults, accelerators and incubators. But we need to be clear on the role we want these bodies to play. How should they be incentivised? Who should staff them? And what should their primary focus be?
This panel event dives into the crucial role that technology and innovation centres play in our science ecosystem, and explores how they can be improved and reformed.
