This workshop held at our Annual Conference in Coventry on 13 October 2008, is the second event held recently by the Observatory on innovation.
On 4 September 2008 we held an initial workshop examining the issues underlying the measurement of innovation. This workshop yielded some interesting and thought provoking discussions, two of which formed the basis of the workshop at the Annual Conference, specifically:
- The importance of networks and the facilitation of the exchange of ideas in delivering successful innovation.
- The role of innovation beyond the commercial environment to incorporate the contribution that the public and third sectors can have on innovation.
The workshop was split into two sessions, each of which had two presentations. The first presentation outlined the broader perspective on the theme while the second looked at a particular piece of research that has informed the policy discussions.
In the first session Professor Adrian Cole of Birmingham City University talked about the Innovation Owners Network and how it is bringing businesses together to promote and deliver collaborative thinking for successful innovation.
Karl Dalgleish, Director of the workshop sponsors Ekosgen followed with a presentation on their recent survey research looking at the value to businesses in the region of business networking through the cluster activities delivered through the Regional Economic Strategy.
The second session of the workshop heard briefly from Brian MacAulay, who leads research on enterprise and innovation at the Observatory.
Brian provided an overview of the work being undertaken by the Observatory to support the innovation strategy. This included analysis on R&D expenditure in the West Midlands and the initial work undertaken to estimate a regional innovation index. Brian also highlighted the importance of understanding innovation as an evolutionary process.
Finally there was a presentation from Dr. Barbara Good of the Technopolis Group. Barbara outlined the findings of research on the role and implications for policy of innovation in the public and third sectors. She outlined the proposals to NESTA for a survey to identify the level of innovation activity in the public sector which are being actively considered by Government.
The speakers' presentations are available on the Downloads tab.