Seminar to investigate the UK conundrum

An Institution of Engineering and Technology product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Sep 21, 2005

Business leaders will challenge the Government and industry to improve the UK's track record in deriving real commercial value from bright ideas at the inaugural IEE Short Circuit Seminar.

Some of the UK's most influential and dynamic business leaders will be challenging Government and industry to improve the UK's track record in deriving real commercial value from bright ideas at the inaugural IEE Short Circuit Seminar to be held at QinetiQ, Worcestershire on 12th October 2005.

In his first major appearance as IEE President, Sir John Chisholm will open the event with a keynote address: "The UK conundrum - we are so inventive, why are we not richer?".

Innovation and creativity are paramount in order to succeed in the face of fierce global competition.

This conference will look at why the UK falls short when commercialising innovative ideas and examine strategies for overcoming this trend.

Other speakers for the event include: Martin McCourt, CEO, Dyson; John Ive, Director of Strategic Planning, Sony Europe; Tony Hooley, President, 1Limited; Andrew Middleton, Director of Defence Technology Industrialisation, QinetiQ; Roderick Snell, President and Research Director, Snell and Wilcox; and Philip O'Donovan, Commercial Director and cofounder, CSR.

The speakers will present their case studies, highlighting their personal experiences of how they overcame a variety of hurdles en-route to commercial success.

Looking forward to his speech, Sir John said: "The UK currently suffers from an innovation gap between pure research and successful business application".

"For the UK to successfully exploit its solid science and technology base we need better focus on perfecting the process of technology transfer rather than on just supporting invention".

"We can learn from the USA where government purchasing power is used to kick-start innovative technologies, where risk-taking is actively encouraged by the tax regime rather than discouraged by procurement processes, and where venture capital funding is provided with a climate in which to flourish".

"This would represent a massive culture shift in this country but it is critical to the UK's long term economic success".

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