EEDA chair welcomes innovation white paper
Released 13 March 2008 | Released by Lynette Penney
The East of England Development Agency's (EEDA) chair has welcomed the new Science & Innovation White Paper published by the government today and has urged the government to adopt the region's successful Proof of Concept model to promote innovation and growth.
Richard Ellis, chair of EEDA, said:
"It is great news for businesses in the East of England that the way the public sector procures contracts for its £150 billion budget nationally is going to change to focus on solutions rather than existing products and services. This has been an undeveloped area for innovation and one that we and the other regional development agencies have argued for but now there are plans to bring this forward.
"The Innovation Nation White Paper recognises that innovation is not just about science and technology, but also extends to creative and service sectors.
"In this region EEDA has supported the East of England Science and Industry Council (SIC) which, since its launch in 2004, has worked hard to increase innovation among the region's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
"I am delighted to see that the government is to develop the proof of concept specification nationally and we will be urging government to adopt the Proof of Concept fund model we have developed in the East of England.
"EEDA's Proof of Concept fund, which is designed to help entrepreneurs in the East of England test the commercial viability of innovative business ideas, has been very successful since the pilot in June 2006. Nearly 100 projects have received over £2.2 million of funding so far. One SME identified a completely new market for its technology and has won an initial contract worth £3 million as a direct result.
"We look forward to receiving more innovative business ideas in time for the next Proof of Concept application deadline which is 25 April.
Richard added:
"We will continue to work hard to encourage cross-fertilisation of ideas between business and science. We have already supported enterprise hubs such as Cranfield University Business Incubation Centre to do this. There is a strong engineering background at Cranfield and the university is also very commercially aware. This means that young businesses are in a very good environment. Once they've perfected their business idea CUBIC can give them helpful guidance on where the best opportunities lie in the marketplace.
"Strengthening the region's science base is a key priority in our draft corporate plan as is creating an environment where businesses can innovate, flourish and compete globally."
The White Paper also gives further details of innovation vouchers which were announced in yesterday's Budget. These will be managed by EEDA and the other RDAs.
