Driving Innovation in Cities

Date: 22.07.2010 13:00 - 16:30

Location: NESTA, London

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NESTA hosted an event with Manchester City Council and the North West Development Agency about building local innovation systems for economic growth based on the practical experience of the Manchester Innovation Investment Fund partnership.

Sir Howard Bernstein gave a personal account of what it takes to build the kind of coalitions and connections that make innovation happen across a city. He emphasised the importance of better quality evidence to identify policy priorities, then the relentless communication of them to the wider population to ensure ownership. He talked about the importance of involving dynamic business leaders and building purposeful, targeted connections for specific ends, both inside and outside the city.

Cathy Garner, CEO of Manchester Knowledge Capital highlighted how the Innovation Boardroom is identifying new ways to harness the leadership of the unusual suspects in the private sector.

David Sanderson, Innovation Manager at NWDA outlined how to challenge entrenched thinking and the need to think about interventions as part of a moving system rather than in isolation.

Julie Madigan, CEO of the Manufacturing Institute showed how Fablab, one of over 25 innovation initiatives currently being tested in Manchester is transforming consumers of innovation into producers of it.  Other Manchester initiatives represented included Manchester Masters, MIMIT, Open Data Cities and Idiscover.

Andy Westwood, Director of Skills and Employment at the Commission for New Economy, Dermot Finch, CEO of the Centre for Cities and Sir Howard Bernstein debated how cities can best take advantage of the new agenda for local economic development -  as Local Enterprise Partnerships are set to replace Regional Development Agencies – to drive more innovation and growth.

Discussion exposed the uncertainty about the shift to Local Enterprise Partnerships, but there were strong messages for central government and for cities:

• Decentralisation shouldn’t mean ‘laissez-faire’ – a genuine new partnership between cities and central government is essential.
• Opinion is divided over where the new Regional Growth Fund should invest -where need is greatest or where returns are highest?
• Don’t make sweeping judgements about leadership in the public versus the private sector. Quality of leadership can be patchy in both – the challenge is to identify and ‘tap’ the skills and capabilities of the most dynamic people and organizations.
• Focus multi-agency commissioning on reducing dependency on services – more efficient to prevent than cure
• The move to Local Enterprise Partnerships will take time, and will not be painless – it will require a mind-set shift as cities learn how to define their own priorities and their own terms for delivery.