Supplementary written answers from Professor
K Alan Shore, University of Bangor
SUPPORT FOR
SMES
1. What financial gains have been made,
by both the Companies and the University, as a result of Knowledge
Transfer Projects?
A: The experience of the School of Informatics
at UW, Bangor is that companies benefit from the opportunity to
access technology and expertise which are essential for progressing
product and service development. It may be difficult to demonstrate
a precise causal link between such developments and financial
gains made by companies who engage in KTP projects. However, the
enthusiasm which companies demonstrate in participating in such
projects is highly suggestive that real financial benefits accrue
to the companies.
KTP projects provide Universities with well-defined
monetary resources. Those resources do not, however, include the
costs of the academic staff time devoted to the project. As universities
move into a regime of "full economic costs" in respect
of their research council income it may be appropriate for consideration
to be given to making proper provision for the staff time used
in KTP projects. Otherwise it may be much more cost-effective
for universities to focus effort on fundamental research rather
than knowledge transfer. This is not a route which Bangor would
probably want to choose but it may be forced to do so given the
general financial strictures placed on universities.
2. Large companies and multinationals
have the capacity and the financial strength to create strong
research links with universities. How can SMEs compete with those
companies for access to academics?
(a) Would grants or soft loans to SMEs
help them in this regard?
A: It should be recorded first of all that
increasingly UK companies are divesting themselves of serious
research capabilities. Personal experience with the photonics
industry exemplifies such a trend where, for example, major players
such as British Telecom have essentially withdrawn from research.
In respect of SMEs the issues are more complex
not least because the capacity for SMEs to engage in research
may be limited simply by the availability of staff with the time
to consider the benefits of any planned research. It is possible
to undertake some research within the KTP framework but the scope
of that may be limited.
In my view the approach should be to utilise
some matched-funding scheme to enable SMEs to develop longer term
relationships with academics. Without some financial commitment
from the SME it is highly questionable whether the research will
subsequently be exploited. This would undermine one of the strong
motivations for academics working with industry: the opportunity
to see their work being pulled through into practical exploitation.
It is suggested that such matched funding approaches should be
relatively flexible with variable levels of public funding depending
upon the risk inherent in the project and also the time to market.
Support should taper down as the work approaches the development
of a marketable product.
PHOTONICS ACADEMY
3. Your paper highlights the desire for
a Photonics Academy for Wales. Can you tell us what range of disciplines
would be involved in this academy?
(a) Do you see there being enough students
for companies, or indeed vice-versa?
A: The clear target of the Photonics Academy
is to deliver education and training appropriate to the needs
of the photonics industry. This will include some generic skills
such as marketing and management as well as more specialised skills
appropriate to both nascent and extant photonics companies.
It is worth emphasising that the Photonics Academy
concept is directly transferable into other technological areas
(and indeed I have recently been approached by others who wish
to mirror this activity in other technology areas.)
It is also worth underlining that, to date,
no funding has been identified to carry forward the Photonics
Academy concept.The Working Party which I chair has clear ideas
of what needs to be done and, more to the point, what can be done
and is now focusing on identifying funding streams for the activity.
The issue of supply and demand of skilled photonics
practitioners is clearly critical not only for the Photonics Academy
but for the photonics industry in Wales and notably the Optic
Technium. The central point here is that for OpTIC to be a real
success it must provide high-level job opportunities for the local
community and not be reliant upon the importation of all required
skilled staff. The most devastating blow would the failure of
any new companies due to a dearth of staff. Conversely those who
benefit from the education and training provided by the Photonics
Academy will have no difficulty in finding lucrative employment
albeit possibly having to relocate to take advantage of such opportunities.
DEVOLUTION
4. Responsibility for Further and Higher
Education, like other parts of the devolution settlement is shared
between Westminster and Wales. What assistance can the UK Government
give to create a prosperous environment in the Welsh academic
sector?
The Welsh Academic sector will come under severe
pressure in the next few years as universities make strategic
moves towards the next Research Assessment Exercise (RAE2007).
The current uncertainty in Wales concerning the funding of HE
can only exarcebate that situation.
The central requirement is for the government
to decide whether it wishes to maintain a free-market in student
places and accept that this may lead to the production of large
numbers of graduates in some disciplines whilst subjects which
are key to the support of economic development will atrophy. We
already have experience of that in Wales and it cannot be expected
that the situation will improve when HE spending in Wales is concentrated
in one part of the country.
If the government believes that the UK should
have a high-tech manufacturing economy then it must take urgent
steps to enhance the educational base which underpins such an
economy. Recently the EPSRC has recognised the seriousness of
a position where choices of 18 year old students are determining
the capacity of universities to deliver world-class research in
support of UK industry. The requirement is to make it financially
attractive for both universities and students to maintain activity
in the hard science and engineering disciplines.
26 May 2004
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