Are We Misinterpreting the Innovation Agenda?
May 26, 2009 | Levent OZLER
The rise of competitive activity between universities on the one hand and private sector design and innovation firms on the other was highlighted in Delivering the Innovation Dream: The BDI Report, which was delivered to the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) in March.
It outlines how a significant number of public sector-funded university innovation centres are marketing their services to small businesses as industry-standard design suppliers, to the detriment of commercial design companies - and how this has created a disruptive market which risks delivering self-inflicted wounds to both sectors.
The response has been immediate, varied and revelatory.
Where respondents' experiences reflected those included in the report, feedback has been wholly supportive.
Others, however, felt aggrieved at the issues raised - particularly those universities who feel they have a strong role to play and are merely responding to government pressure to commercialise research results.
BDI members agree that universities have a crucial role to play in the innovation space (as its report illustrated when citing a number of successful case studies), and that a beneficial partnership exists between science and technology research-based universities and well-established, highly-experienced design and innovation firms creating market applications.
more: britishdesigninnovation.org/index.php?page=newsser (83)
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