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DIUS White Paper makes significant step towards a more innovative UK

13/03/2008

"With the UK behind on productivity and increasing pressure being put on our public services, innovation has never been so important."

NESTA today welcomed the DIUS Science and Innovation White Paper as a major step forward for innovation in the UK, but stressed the need for cross-government engagement if it is to successfully address the UK's most pressing economic and social challenges.

For the first time the White Paper recognises that innovation goes beyond science and technology, and sets out proposals to develop vital 'hidden' or non-traditional forms of innovation across the economy. It promises particular support for innovation in UK firms and in the public sector, where new approaches stand to make massive cost savings and improve lives.

As the UK's lead innovation body, NESTA will play a critical role in taking three recommendations forward:

  • NESTA will establish a Public Services Innovation Laboratory. The Laboratory will see NESTA draw on expertise both in the UK and internationally, and from across public, private and third sectors, to develop radical innovation for public services.
  • NESTA will create a new Innovation Index to capture the UK's performance as an 'Innovation Nation'. It will go beyond the innovation captured by traditional metrics such as R&D expenditure or patenting, to reflect the sum total of innovation in the UK's service-driven economy.
  • To ensure the UK remains at the cutting edge of innovation and understand how it happens in all parts of the economy, a new Innovation Research Centre will be established by DIUS, NESTA, the ESRC and the Technology Strategy Board.

According to NESTA's CEO, Jonathan Kestenbaum:

"With the UK behind on productivity and increasing pressure being put on our public services, innovation has never been so important. Put simply, we have to do things differently to prosper. The government has a critical role to play in supporting not stifling this innovation and, done right, the recommendations in this White Paper will go a good way to achieve that".

At the same time, Kestenbaum was keen to stress the need for DIUS to secure buy-in across government if its proposals are to succeed and cautioned that the greatest challenges were yet to come.

He warned that the government's proposed reforms to its £150 billion procurement budget might not go far enough in driving innovation from UK SMEs, and questioned whether reforms to the Small Business Research Initiative would bring it close enough to the successful US model, which commits more money and allows greater risk-sharing between innovator and government.

For more information or to arrange an interview with NESTA spokespeople, please call Vicky or Nicola 0207 438 2643 or 0207 438 2608.

About NESTA

NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts. Its mission is to transform the UK's capacity for innovation. We do this in three main ways: by working to build a more pervasive culture of innovation in this country; by providing innovators with access to early-stage capital; and by driving forward research into innovation, with a view to influencing policy.

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