Forum Brief: Innovation strategy

The government has this week launched its strategy to boost innovation in British business.

Ministers warned that the UK continues to fall behind its western counterparts, in particular on the proportion of gross domestic product spent on research and investment.

Malcolm Bruce, trade and industry spokesman, said: "In reality the proper role of government is to stimulate blue skies research and liberate business to innovate, rather than try to second guess the marketplace.

"We welcome the government's recognition that their procurement policy for the £109 billion government spend has been applied in a way that could stifle, rather than encourage, innovation and should be reassessed accordingly.

"It is however questionable whether government has the means to promote innovation. Micromanagement could create more bureaucracy and obstacles than it removes."

Forum Response: National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts

Chris Powell, chairman of NESTA, said: "The DTI needs to recognise more strongly the potential for innovation within small businesses and their contribution to the economy.

"The Innovation Report, coupled with the Bridging the Finance Gap document, could have outlined measures to support investment in small, innovative businesses. We believe that high value-added businesses are a special case and should receive tailored support.

"NESTA pioneers ways of supporting and promoting innovation and creativity across science, technology and learning. We were created to invest at the highest point of risk and innovation and to date, we have invested around £40 million in supporting the UK's talent.

"We have found that too many of the people we support had to struggle to find appropriate finance - relatively small sums of money to protect their idea and take their product to market. We hope to work with government to ensure that more can be done to help them.

"This report recognises that we are world leaders in the creative industries, but it fails to acknowledge the barriers faced by people working in them, or do enough to address them. Its primary focus is on science and technology.

"These are important and innovative sectors, but the creative industries also add enormous amounts of value. They are often overlooked by government and investors."