Stepping Forwards suggests recommendations to help maximise the value of private and public investments in R&D and innovation in Northern Ireland.

Key recommendations:

• The introduction of an Innovation Council to improve system governance.
• A Service Innovation Grant Scheme to support non-technical innovation.
• A requirement for collaboration to encourage co-operation on innovation and R&D.
• Northern Ireland Government should work to implement a two-tier funding system to encourage stronger regional alignment of the universities.

Recent statistics present a sobering picture of innovation in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland has the lowest proportion of innovation-active firms of any area of the UK outside London. 

A recent assessment suggested that Northern Ireland was one of only two regions lagging the UK average on all elements of absorptive and development capacity.

In this report we draw on international leading practice and suggest concrete steps which could be taken in Northern Ireland to construct a regional innovation advantage. We make four key recommendations building on leading practice from elsewhere.

Author:
Professor Stephen Roper, Centre for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Warwick Business School