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Consultation Response

Structured discussions enabled us to solicit fresh ideas from a wide range of stakeholders and to identify key issues for innovation policy in the UK. This was undertaken in the spirit of 'open innovation' and has taken and responded to as wide a range of input as possible in the time available.

The consultation consisted of two elements: a series of workshops between December 2007 and February 2008 involving face to face discussions and an open consultation through the web. The key themes drawn from the consultations have been summarised and the respondents listed on the web-site. As a result of this process we are developing plans for on-going dialogue.

Workshops

The workshops were designed to:

  • seek ideas from informed commentators across a range of sectors;
  • engage key stakeholders;
  • explore policy proposals with the community.

We have made the notes from the workshops available. Please use the following links to find out more:

Key themes

There was consensus amongst respondents that innovation was key to prosperity. There was also a high degree of consensus around the following themes which were seen to be important:

  • Government acting as a lead user of innovation demonstrating new technologies and providing innovative solutions to public services and societal challenges
  • The degree to which academics are sufficiently incentivised to work with business through the HE funding system
  • Encouragement for widening support of innovation to be broader in scope than science and technology
  • The importance of service and management innovation together with incremental small step improvements in driving innovation
  • Support for the introduction of a national scheme for innovation vouchers
  • The need for improved quality and quantity of SET and language skills
  • The impact of negative attitudes to risk in the UK, particularly within the public sector
  • The importance of the ability for individuals to think creatively and develop problem solving skills for innovation
  • The public acceptance of science and technology as key to opening up new markets

Respondents

Nearly 300 responses were received from individuals and organisations. A complete list of respondents (Word Document 53KB) is included here.