Edition 1
Welcome to the first 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. This is our first 'public' edition - 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
The highlights from this first edition include the formation of the new Brown Government, with a Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and a Business Council for Britain. The Government has also announced new Sector Innovation Action Groups, and the DTI (now the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) published a report on ‘Innovation in Services’ alongside a NESTA research report on ‘Hidden Innovation’. There have been a number of reports published on issues affecting the Third Sector, DBERR is now consulting on the Business Support Simplification and The Work Foundation have published a report on the Creative Industries.
Policy
PM announces machinery of Government and Cabinet changes 28/06/07
Gordon Brown has announced a series of changes to the Government's organisation and structure, including a Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills headed by John Denham.
Ministers and Parliamentary Under Secretaries announced 29/06/07
List of all departmental ministers. Bill Rammell, Ian Pearson, David Lammy and Lord Triesman will support Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, John Denham.
PM announces make-up of new Business Council for Britain 29/06/07
Senior representatives of UK-based businesses to advise the PM on enterprise, productivity and competitiveness. Chaired by Mervyn Davies, members include Sir Richard Branson, Sir Terry Leahy, Stuart Rose, Dame Marjorie Scardino and Sir Alan Sugar.
The UK Intellectual Property Office launches new online patent application service 26/06/07
A new web-based patent application service is now available on the UKIPO website.
House of Commons Science and Technology Committee - Office of Science and Innovation: Scrutiny Report 2005 and 2006 19/06/07
Government memorandum in response to the Committee's April Scrutiny Report of the OSI.
Research Councils UK takes steps to improve efficiency and effectiveness of peer review process 21/06/07
RCUK aims to reduce the time spent writing applications and reports, leaving more time for research and also saving money.
OTS: Government puts £3m behind the voice of social enterprise 19/06/07
Seven organisations receive £3m to raise awareness of the social enterprise sector.
NAO Report - Local Area Agreements and the Third Sector: Public Service Delivery 22/06/07
Local authorities should work more collaboratively with third sector organisations to help improve the delivery of public services.
DTI: New Ethnic Minority Business Task Force 19/06/07
Intended to foster growth among black and minority ethnic firms and boost economic participation by BME entrepreneurs.
DTI: Members of the Board appointed for the new Technology Strategy Board 25/06/07
Appointment of eleven board members for the new Technology Strategy Board, operational as an executive NDPB from 1 July 2007.
DTI Consultation: Simplifying Business Support 22/06/07-14/09/07
Consultation on Government plans to simplify business support in England from around 3000 schemes to no more than 100 by 2010.
DfES: Cutting bureaucracy in public services 21/06/07
Launch of the public sector better regulation strategy, to reduce the administrative and regulatory burden on 'front line' workers.
DCLG: LDA Women’s Enterprise Action Plan 18/06/07
Plan to address the persistent and wide gap between levels of male and female entrepreneurship in the UK.
EC: Rocard Report on Science Education 12/06/07
Science teaching in schools should be more 'inquiry-based', also recommends a European Science Education Advisory Board.
Fresh push for European Institute of Technology 22/06/07
EU leaders further explore plans for a technology research institute, intended to close the innovation gap with competitors.
Research
DTI Occasional Paper No.9: Innovation in Services 19/06/07
Brings together emerging evidence and thinking on services innovation in the UK.
RAENG Report: Educating Engineers for the 21st Century
Warns that development of the 'UK knowledge economy' will be under threat within ten years due to a shortage of graduate engineers.
SQW Report to the OTS: Third Sector Access to Finance 19/06/07
Aims to help improve understanding of current and potential future demand for external finance to support third sector organisations.
Warwick Business School Report to the OTS: Access to finance for social enterprises on a par with mainstream business 19/06/07
Finds that social enterprises could be as capable of accessing mainstream finance as commercial businesses.
NESTA/ippr Centre for Cities interim report: What role do cities play in innovation, and to what extent do we need city-based innovation policies and approaches? 26/06/07
Discusses the extent to which innovation is an urban phenomenon, identifies the innovation characteristics of cities and highlights areas for future research.
futurethink Report: Cracking the Code of Effective Innovation 27/06/07
Survey of 248 global business executives rating both organisational size and method of innovation as indicative of innovation success.
Centre for Economic Performance, Report - UK Productivity under Blair 22/06/07
Despite improvement in UK productivity under Blair, there are still major challenges in areas such as innovation, skills and regulation.
The Work Foundation, Report - Staying ahead: the economic performance of the UK’s creative industries 25/06/07
Will Hutton's paper on the drivers of the UK's creative industries, exploring the opportunities and challenges for these sectors.
Responsible Research in Europe / Science and its Publics, Munich 24-25/06/07
Conference exploring the visibility and status of research policy at national level and within the European framework.
NESTA Hidden Innovation Report 19/06/07
Analysis of six sectors that perform poorly in traditional innovation indicators - retail banking, oil, prisoner rehabilitation, construction and legal aid.
Microsoft Developing the Future 2007 report: Skills threat to UK competitiveness 18/06/07
A shortage of people with IT skills could make Britain uncompetitive in the globalised knowledge economy.
NESTA related news
Launch of NESTA Connect 15/06/07
NESTA Connect will explore interdisciplinary collaboration, corporate innovation and open communities.
Forthcoming Events
PRO INNO Europe: Metrics to better understand innovation performance: New approaches to measuring innovation in Italy, 05-06/07/07
A workshop at the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. The nature of innovative activity is constantly changing and this only compounds the difficulty to inform policies with meaningful and reliable indicators.
Demos event: Unlocking Innovation - Why citizens hold the key to public service reform 10/07/07
John Healey and Paul Coen explore how public services can harness citizens' potential for innovation.
Launch of IBM Dublin Innovation Centre 11/07/06
New centre intended to offer software companies opportunities for collaborative project work, networking and future market insights.
Eighth International Venture Capital Forum, Athens 03-04/07/07
Forum for exchange between entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, researchers and policy makers in Southeast Europe.
European Patent Office: Growing business with IP, Milan 09-10/07/07
Discuss IP management and practice, such as technology transfer & licensing and raising finance for new inventions.
Past Events
World Economic Forum on East Asia 2007 24-25/06/07
Lim Siong-Guan, Chairman of the Singapore Economic Development Board makes recommendations as to how to foster innovation and competitiveness across Asia.
Responsible Research in Europe / Science and its Publics, Munich 24-25/06/07
Conference exploring the visibility and status of research policy at national level and within the European framework.
European Forum on Eco-Innovation: Markets for Sustainable Construction, Brussels 11/06/07
A forum to exchange good practice in sustainable building, also exploring economic, technical and regulatory barriers to eco-innovation.
Royal Institution: How the media promotes the public misunderstanding of science 26/06/07
In the media we are bombarded with miracle cures, hidden threats and wacky boffin stories. But is there any evidence behind them?
International
OECD Employment Outlook 2007 - How does the United Kingdom compare?
Annual survey. UK unemployment rose in 2006, notably in the 15-24 age group, but UK employment rate (73%) is above the OECD average (66%).
Opening of Motorola technological innovation theme park for children at Wannado City 21/06/07
Young visitors will be able to discover a career in innovation, science and technology in a high-tech, immersive environment.