Technology Innovation Centres

Written evidence submitted by Birmingham City University (TIC 04)

Introduction

1. The Fraunhofer Model established 1949 appears to have worked well in Germany within the German context. The key questions for the UK are:

a. Germany and UK strengths are not the same, is the Fraunhofer Model appropriate to support the UK strengths?

b. Is the model that has worked well for the last 50 years appropriate for the next 20 years?

These are considered below.

Germany and UK strengths are not the same, is the Fraunhofer Model appropriate to support the UK strengths?

2. The Fraunhofer Model seems to have worked well in R&D led sectors of the economy. In the UK these are represented by such sectors as aerospace, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Companies in these sectors are well networked into universities, the Research Councils and the Technology Strategy Board already. We have missed this boat.

3. However, the UK has strengths in non R&D led sectors such as the finance and creative industries sectors. Both use new technology as enablers but the innovation is generally not captured by traditional R&D metrics.

4. A key challenge that Birmingham City University has experienced is that of sufficient absorptive capacity in organisations - which is a particular challenge for SMEs in the West Midlands. This is one of the reasons why the Knowledge Transfer Programme works so well. SMEs require support available locally/regionally. It is not clear how this issue will be addressed.

Is the model that has worked well for the last 50 years appropriate for the next 20 years?

5. On a recent Design Council led trip to South Korea and China, it was apparent that the governments there see the fusion of digital, technology and design as key to successful innovation. The Design Council’s Multi-disciplinary Design Network: Asia Report (2010) says that "… both South Korea and China are rapidly developing their design capability, learning from the ‘best of the west’ as well as building on their own significant creative and cultural backgrounds. Technology is a huge driver of innovation in Asia and design is clearly perceived as a key translator of science and technology [1] , and increasingly too as a means of meeting social needs."

6. In general in the UK, the universities that are strong in science and technology research are not the same as those universities that are strong in design and the use of digital technologies (e.g. social media). This is an untapped opportunity.

7. Increasingly people are becoming more design aware such that excellent design can override a better technical solution. When combined with excellent branding which plays into people’s emotions, straightforward technology will not be enough. The iPhone is a classic example.

8. The Fraunhofer Model has worked well for last 50 years in Germany but our competitor nations are now changing the ground rules by incorporating design-thinking into the heart of their innovation policies.

9. The Design Council report Innovate for Universities [2] describes pilot activities involving professional designers with Technology Transfer Officers in research intensive universities strong in science and technology. This demonstrates how professional designers working with potential and actual high technology spin-outs can improve the translation from the lab to the marketplace. In discussions with the Design Council, it appears that an unexpected benefit was identifying those developments for which there was not a viable opportunity at that time.

10. Therefore this is an ideal opportunity to bridge that gap and create a space for science and technology researchers, design and digital media researchers, and professional designers to work together with industry, as well as the public sector, on emerging technologies and their applications. Thus we would enhance the UK’s competitiveness in meeting the key challenges facing the world (e.g. ageing population, security, energy) by exploiting the combination of our acknowledged scientific, technological and design capability.

11. A radical solution would be to create regional institutes between the universities, industry and the public sector. These institutes would ensure collaboration between science and technology research intensive universities with post-92 universities strong in design and the use of digital technologies. Each regional institute could major on two or three key areas of regional strength. Virtual national institutes around a key theme e.g. ageing could be created which brings together all those regional institutes active in addressing a specific theme. These could be real institutes or virtual institutes.

Declaration of interests

12. Birmingham City University is a post-92 university strong in design and use of digital technologies.

Michele Mooney

Director, Research, Innovation & Enterprise Services

Birmingham City University

18 November 2010