UK more innovative than you think says new research
20/10/2006
"It would be easy to congratulate ourselves for being more innovative than we think. But failing to consider all this innovation has serious implications."
It is widely considered that the UK lags a long way behind our economic competitors such as the US, Germany and Japan but this assumption is based on incomplete information.
Traditional comparisons look at the amount we spend on research & development (R&D) or the number of US patents awarded to UK companies each year. On these comparisons the UK is poor. But this doesn't tell the whole story. In the UK, financial services, retail, consultancy and the public sector make up 94% of the economy but do not generate high numbers of patents or operate traditional R&D departments. All these industries are innovative and regularly develop and launch new products and services which directly benefit the economy or society. Yet this is not captured in the scorecards.
Over recent years we have seen the launch of mortgages for friend sharers, NHS direct and any number of internet retailers which use highly innovative techniques to target customers. None of this innovation is measured through patents or R&D.
When added to the mix this innovation sees the UK catch up with its competitors by as much as 80%.
The research, The Innovation Gap, shows that current methods of measuring innovation only provide a snapshot understanding and fail to consider properly all the innovation that goes on across the UK.
NESTA Chief Executive, Jonathan Kestenbaum, commenting said:
"It would be easy to congratulate ourselves for being more innovative than we think. But failing to consider all this innovation has serious implications.
"Government innovation policy traditionally focuses only on science and technology which, while relevant, is a fraction of the UK economy.
"We must galvanise both Government and business around a national mission for innovation."
The Innovation Gap is published today and is available for download.
- NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts
- NESTA is the largest endowment exclusively devoted to innovation in the UK. NESTA uses this unique funding to invest in early stage companies, inform innovation policy and encourage a culture of entrepreneurship. The aim is to transform the UK's capacity for innovation.
- NESTA Spokespeople are available for comment and interview please contact our press office on 020 7645 9583 or 07957 156759