Edition 9

Welcome to the ninth edition of NESTA Innovation Digest (ID), a new intelligence service from NESTA. ID is intended to provide fortnightly information and links on the latest news from the world of innovation policy and research and news of international issues and events. We hope you will benefit from this new service.

We're sifting news and updates from dozens of websites and bulletins for each edition of ID. We're keen to know how we could improve this service, or perhaps you have suggestions for inclusion - please email digest@enews.nesta.org.uk.

Regards,
Richard Halkett - Executive Director, NESTA Policy and Research Unit

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This issue

On the 9 October the Chancellor announced the 2007 Pre-Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review settlement for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, as well as an extra £50m for Arts Council England. DIUS has published a prospectus to encourage universities to partner with schools, and the Conservative Party has released an interim report on enterprise in the UK. The Council for Science and Technology has published a report on the early careers of researchers. Finally, NESTA has launched the Big Green Challenge, a £1 million prize to reward new approaches to reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

Policy

DIUS - increased funding for science, research, innovation, skills and higher education 09-10-07
The 2007 CSR announces 2.2% annual average real growth for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, taking its total budget from £18.0 billion in 2007-08 to £20.8 billion by 2010-11.

DCMS - James Purnell announces extra £50m for the arts 12-10-07
Government investment in the arts is set to be boosted over the next three years, with the announcement of an extra £50millon going to Arts Council England by 2011.

OTS - Innovation Exchange launches with £200,000 fund for best third sector innovators 08-10-07
Phil Hope MP, Minister for the Third Sector, launched the Innovation Exchange and announced £200,000 investment to support the programme's work in 2008-09, drawing on investment provided by NESTA.

DIUS - Government calls on universities to partner schools to tap into talent 10-10-07
The Government has challenged universities to identify and nurture young talent in the UK from the earliest stage, widening participation in higher education through closer engagement with academies and new trust schools.

European Commission - Overcoming the stigma of business failure: for a second chance policy 11-10-07
The EC wants to remove the stigma of bankruptcy and give entrepreneurs a second chance. The report suggests ways to change attitudes to bankruptcy, supporting businesses at risk of failing and actively supporting people to have a second try.

DEFRA/BERR - £170 million boost for low-carbon energy technology 09-10-07
Government investment in commercialising low-carbon technologies in the UK will top £370 million over the next three years. There will be an extra £170 million for the cross-Government Environmental Transformation Fund.

Conservative Party Interim Report - Enterprising Britain: Building the enterprise capital of the world 18/10/07
Emerging conclusions from an investigation by the European School of Management into the state of enterprise in the UK. Despite a decade of policy initiatives to promote entrepreneurship, the UK is still not fulfilling its potential to be a global leader.

OTS – New ambassadors join campaign to promote social enterprise 15-10-07
The announcement of 25 ambassadors for social enterprise, intended to raise awareness of achieving social and environmental goals through enterprise, and will act as role models for people interested in a social enterprise career.

OTS - reports on Government spending on the sector 12-10-07
The OTS has published details of central and local government spending on the voluntary and community sector for the years 2000/01 to 2003/04. The figures show that spending on the sector rose faster than overall government spending during the period.

DCLG - The new council constitutions: the outcomes and impact of the Local Government Act 2000
Five year study argues that major changes in how councils are organised have led to more visible and effective leadership, faster decision-making and better public services.

Welsh Assembly Government - New School Curriculum for Wales 09-10-07
A revised school curriculum for Wales to develop pupils’ skills levels, knowledge and understanding was announced by Jane Hutt, Education Minister. The curriculum, for the 3-19 age range, will be implemented from September 2008. http://new.wales.gov.uk

Wales Assembly Government - First Minister welcomes expansion of the Welsh Research Hub 10-10-07
First Minister Rhodri Morgan opened a new high-tech research centre in Port Talbot, exploring how to reduce carbon emissions and produce cleaner, more efficient energy.

Arts Council England - Arts entrepreneurs get a Flying Start 10-10-08
Creative entrepreneurs are being helped to turn their business ideas into fully fledged social enterprises, through the Flying Start programme. 40 graduates will be helped to define their business ideas and learn the basics of setting up an enterprise.

Research

HM Treasury Working Papers No1 - Intangible investment and Britain's productivity
Investigates the consequences for a range of macroeconomic variables, including productivity, of treating spending on intangibles as investment. The intangible assets include scientific R&D, software, design, non-scientific R&D and spending by firms.

Council for Science and Technology – Pathways to the future: the early career of researchers in the UK 09-10-07
The report makes recommendations on how the management of researchers at the start of their careers could be improved in order to make a research career a more attractive option.

RCUK Report - Excellence with impact 11-10-07
Outlines progress and future plans to increase the economic impact of the Research Councils UK. It also announced the results of three independent research projects.

Work Foundation Paper - Distinctiveness and Cities: Beyond ‘Find and Replace’ Economic Development 08-10-07
Argues that ‘distinctiveness’ — specialisms and characteristics that help cities build and sustain a cohesive identity — is an alternative strategy to the apparent homogenisation of Britain’s towns and high streets.

New Economics Foundation Report – Chinadependence: The second UK interdependence report 06-10-07
Argues that Britain is increasingly dependent on the rest of the world to fuel our high-consuming lifestyles, with a striking rise in the dependence on Chinese imports, effectively turning China into our 'environmental laundry'.

National Council for Graduate Entrepreneurship – Entrepreneurship education growing in the US 16-10-07
The NCGE highlights the growth of entrepreneurship education in the US based on the publications of The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur Magazine annual ranking of the top 50 graduate and undergraduate entrepreneurship programmes.

Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative Report - Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2007 October 2007
Investment continues to rise and that while the OECD still dominates, there is now rapidly emerging activity from companies in China, India and Brazil.

Ernst & Young Report – How do private equity investors create value? 27-09-07
The annual rate of growth in enterprise value achieved last year by the largest Private Equity-backed businesses significantly outperformed equivalent public companies in the same country, industry sector and timeframe.

NESTA related news

Big Green Challenge Launch 02/11/07 to 07/12/07
£1m prize fund to reward people working together to develop new approaches that lead towards a 60% reduction of CO2 emissions in their communities.

Lunch with Lord Sainsbury, London 15/10/07
Discussed the findings of the Review and how it will impact on UK innovation policy. Guests included Sir Tom McKillop Chairman of RBS, Professor John Goddard Vice Chancellor of Newcastle University and Sir Roy Anderson Chief Scientific Adviser at the MOD.

NESTA – University/Industry Collaboration Forum, London 20/11/07
University technology transfer and licensing experts will discuss best practice in the US and UK approaches. Experts include Dr Ellen Levy (Stanford University), Megan Smith (Google), Teri Willey (Cambridge) and Tim Barnes (UCL) Advances.

NESTA and Silicon Valley Connect - Web 2.0 CEO Forum, London 19/11/07
Leading CEOs of Web 2.0 companies and Silicon Valley discuss how to manage real life strategic challenges facing young companies. If you are a CEO of a web 2.0 company, please register your interest with darren.balcombe@nesta.org.uk

Forthcoming Events

ESRC and Young Foundation – Michael Young prize giving, London 23/10/07
Aims to encourage researchers who undertake work of social value to communicate in a clear way to the general public. The prizewinner will receive £5,000 and support from the ESRC and the Young Foundation in achieving publication of its work.

2007 USA National Conference on the Creative Economy, Virginia USA 24-25/10/07
Will examine the role that a strong, creative workforce plays in the growth and success of businesses and communities in an information-based economy. Speakers include Professor Richard Florida, Thomas Friedman, Anne Fisher and Alvin Toffler.

DEMOS - Nano and development workshop, London 7/11/07
The Nanodialogues, Science Demos and Practical Action are holding a workshop for NGOs and scientists. It aims to build a new research agenda for nanotechnology and development.

NESTA - Driving Innovation in Scotland, Perth 13/11/07
Policymakers, academics and businesses will discuss the challenges and opportunities for innovation in Scotland. Speakers include Professor Colin Burns, Jonathan Kestenbaum CEO NESTA and Tom Ilube founder of Egg Bank.

BVCA -Technology Spin-out Conference 2007, London 29/10/07
Themed ‘The management challenge for spin-outs’. Speakers include Lord Sainsbury of Turville, Wol Kolade BVCA Chairman, David Hunter MD NESTA Investments and Professor Peter Denyer and will explore the challenges of young company development.

International conference on IP and the creative industries, Geneva 29-30/10/07
This conference, run by WIPO, will provide a forum for discussion on the concept and application of creativity in the creative industries, focusing on their intellectual property component.

National School of Government, NESTA and Young Foundation - Public Innovation Conference: Creating the conditions 1/11/07
Aims to generate an awareness of public service innovations and to discuss the role of government in diffusing innovative practice. Speakers include Sir Gus O’Donnell, Jonathan Kestenbaum, Ian Watmore, Sir Michael Bichard and Geoff Mulgan.

Exploring Avenues to Cross-Disciplinary Research, Nottingham 7/11/07
Run by The Cross-disciplinary Research Group at the University of Nottingham, the focus of the conference will be on showcasing ongoing and emerging interdisciplinary research.

Creative Clusters Conference 2007, London 9-14/11/07
Will explore policy and opportunity in the Creative Economy, world creative hubs and the creative crowd. Speakers include: Chris Powell, Chair of NESTA; Margaret Hodge MP; Professor Hua Jian; and Peter Hewitt, Chief Executive, Arts Council UK.

Advantage West Midlands - Festival of Innovation, NEC 15/11/07
Will showcase the most innovative businesses from across the West Midlands region, and how businesses and universities successfully collaborate and transfer knowledge to deliver innovative products and services.

HEFCE - Annual Meeting 2007, London 16/11/07
Will discuss developments in higher education and present the current activities of the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

Futurelab’s conference – Why Don’t You…? Supporting innovative approaches in education, London 30-31/10/07
An international panel of speakers will discuss how teachers and policymakers can exploit the developments in digital technologies to encourage innovation in education and inform policymaking in the UK.

Connect Investment Conference, Edinburgh 30/10/07
There will be a debate on the main challenges that the technology sector faces. Technology entrepreneurs will be able to network with investors. The second SEP Technology Leaders Forum will be held as part of conference.

Past Events

Select Committee on Science and Technology evidence session - Science and Innovation Investment Framework 2004-2014: Annual Report 2007, London 08/10/07
The session was hold with Ian Pearson MP, Sir Keith O'Nions, to explore the progress made over the last year towards achieveing the goals of the science and innovation invetsment framework.

European Commission and IAPMEI – Financing innovation from ideas to market, Portugal 8-9/10/07
Member States, the European Commission, Financial Institutions and SMEs discussed policies and actions that are required to support innovation through better access to finance.

European Commission – European Research Area Conference - The Future of Science and Technology in Europe, Portugal 8-10/10/07
The Commission Green Paper ‘The European Research Area: New Perspectives’ provided the central agenda for the conference. Janez Potočnik opened the conference. A series of sessions debated the future research policy developments in the EU.

Campaign for Science & Engineering Annual Distinguished Lecture, 2007, London 17/10/07
David Willetts MP, Shadow Secretary of State for DIUS talked on science and education, in this event co-hosted by CaSE and the Wellcome Trust.

CBI Manufacturing Dinner, Birmingham 18/10/07
Todd Stitzer, Chief Executive of Cadbury Schweppes will discuss the current challenges facing modern manufacturers, such as globalisation, climate change and carbon costing, regulation, supply chains, distribution networks and brand management.

International

World Bank Report - Unleashing India’s Innovation 04-10-07
India is increasingly becoming a top global innovator for high-tech products and services, but the country can do much more to reach its full innovation potential, especially by bringing the benefits of innovation to the poor.

OECD Economic Survey of India 09-10-07
India’s annual economic growth could reach a sustainable 10 percent and be spread more evenly across the country if it pursues ambitious and wide-ranging reforms, says the OECD’s first Economic Survey of India.

OECD - Review of Innovation Policy, South Africa 25-09-07
An assessment of the innovation system of South Africa, focusing on the role of government, and providing recommendations on how to improve policies which impact on innovation performance, including R&D policies.

Russian schools move to Linux 09-10-07
Schoolchildren in Russia are to be taught using the free, open-source Linux software in an effort to cut the cost of teaching information technology.

Creative development in Hong Kong to be enhanced 10-10-07
To maintain Hong Kong's leading position as a regional creative hub, creative industry development will be accelerated in the next five years.