Engineering news
Photo: Sara Kelly
Technology entrepreneur Hermann Hauser has called for a long-term expansion of the Catapult network with one or two new elite technology and innovation centres created each year.
This would lead to 20 by 2020 and 30 by 2030, and a doubling of funding by the end of the decade to £1 billion a year, Hauser said in a new report launched this week.
Hauser said the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, which consists of seven technology and innovation centres, including Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and Warwick Manufacturing Group, overseen by Innovate UK with more than £200 million of government investment, had been an early success story of the programme.
The cost of building such a network is consistent with recent calls, such as by the CBI, to double the UK’s innovation spend to bring Innovate UK’s budget closer to £1 billion a year by 2020. Mike Wright, executive director at Jaguar Land Rover, also argued for such a move when he produced a report for the Labour Party on innovation earlier in the year.
Hauser said he had not been certain the Catapult initiative, originally proposed to the previous government, would survive under the coalition, but there was now every reason it could continue – no matter who won next year’s general election. There are currently eight Catapult centres across the country with another due to open in 2015. Each Catapult is focused on a specific area of technology with global potential for British businesses. They bring together the best people in their fields with cutting-edge facilities to help business develop new products and services.
Some are concerned smaller companies are finding it difficult to engage with them. Hauser’s recommendations are currently being considered by the government in advance of chancellor George Osborne’s autumn statement in December, which will determine funding for science and innovation. Manufacturers’ organisation the EEF has warned that funding for the Catapults and Innovate UK must be boosted, along with money for scientific research. This week’s report follows Hauser’s original 2010 proposal to ministers, when he recommended the creation of an elite network of technology and innovation centres in the UK.
Speaking at the launch the Digital Catapult HQ in London last night, Ed Vaizey, minister for culture, communications and creative industries, said he wanted to make the UK “the best place in the world to start and grow technology businesses”. The Catapults were bridging the gap between business and government and academia and research, Vaizey said.
He announced the creation of local digital Catapult centres in Brighton, Bradford and Sunderland, specialising in the Internet of Things, SME access to healthcare technology, and secure sharing of data. Neil Crockett, chief executive of the Digital Catapult, said he hoped to reach 10,000 businesses and create £365 million of value in the economy.
See December’s PE for a feature on innovation with an exclusive interview with Hermann Hauser.