SciTech 2011 Innovation UK

Investment in science and engineering is crucial for economic growth. Innovation is key to developing successful knowledge-based industries, products and services. Whilst maintaining level cash funding is good news in the context of the wider public spending cuts, public investment in science is still about half that of Germany, France and the USA. Many other nations are investing heavily whilst the UK treads water. How do we get more bang from our buck and remain competitive in the global marketplace?

Innovation UK we will be discussing how a dynamic UK science and technology base can lead the world in meeting the global and societal challenges that we face. How can Britain develop new technologies, nurture creativity and encourage world-beating products? The conference will outline how UK science and research can strive for excellence and be at the frontier of research and economic growth.

The UK remains a world leader in scientific research. Our universities attract the very best global talents and provide world-class research that can help us respond to wider societal issues such as climate change, food security and health inequalities. However we have often struggled to take full advantage of innovative ideas and the knowledge that such research generates. We must get better at taking innovation into the marketplace as UK science can underpin economic growth. How can we increase R&D investment and promote greater collaboration and knowledge transfer? Encouragement for commercial lending and capital venture investment can help innovative businesses to thrive and forge a new economic future. Sustainable growth is dependent on our ability to generate new ideas and technologies.

"The challenge we face is to make the best use of our research base. If we get the environment right, the evidence is overwhelmingly that scientific research can contribute to economic growth." David Willets, Minister of State for Universities and Science.

With public sector purse strings being tightened it could be essential that private sector partnerships are developed further and the UK makes itself attractive to investment in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. It is not yet clear what impact public spending cuts and rising tuition fees will have on higher education and research outcomes but it remains a concern. Will research and development be seen as an easy area to target cutbacks in investment?

Join us at SciTech: Innovation UK where we will be bringing together some of the leading figures in science, engineering and technology for a high level meeting on how we can turn science into commerce.

Read more on: http://www.publicserviceevents.co.uk/172/scitech-2011