5 Conclusion
72. Our inquiry heard a lot of good news about business-university
collaboration in the UK. We heard that the innovation environment
in the UK "has produced great benefits", including a
"very strong research base" and that "we ought
to be proud about how close the connections between universities
and business are".[146]
As Antony Harper, Head of Research at Jaguar Land Rover, told
us:
We are fundamentally optimistic about this space
in the UK. There are some very good ingredients. The university
base and our research base in the UK are very good. [Innovate
UK] […] is very good. So our whole approach and mindset to
this is that there is an opportunity to be had here with the innovation
strategy.[147]
Furthermore, our universities are "a phenomenal
asset […] because we have managed to pull off the trick of
their having sufficient autonomy, but also sufficient funding".[148]
There is clearly a lot for the UK to be proud of in terms of its
universities and research output. To build on this:
The Government just needs to have that mindset
that, actually, it does need to help build some new capacity.
It is not just about connecting existing businesses; we really
need to have a positive aim that we are going to grow some major
new industries that can contribute to growth and wealth.[149]
The "sustained, long-term pattern of under-investment
in public and private"[150]
R&D is also cause for concern. We urge the Government to
use the Science and Innovation Strategy as an opportunity to set
out its plans to build capacity in the innovation system and to
articulate an ambitious vision for this sector.
146 Q158 [Professor Jones] Back
147
Q223 [Antony Harper] Back
148
Q10 [Will Hutton] Back
149
Q169 [Professor Jones] Back
150
BIS, Insights from international benchmarking of the UK science and innovation system,
January 2014, Back
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