PraxisUnico welcomes the Chancellor’s significant investment in research and innovation announced in Wednesday’s Autumn Statement. We are encouraged that this will allow the investments that HEFCE, RCUK and Innovate UK have made in building the bridges between research and business communities to be extended further, and will allow the UKRI to develop a holistic approach to supporting research and innovation across all of their responsibilities. Mindful of the anchor role that universities play in regional growth, PraxisUnico Chair, Angela Kukula, welcomed extra funding for the regions with the hope that it would increase regional innovative capacity, so ensuring that innovation can flourish wherever it blooms.
The McMillan Review of Technology Transfer (HEFCE) found that, overall, evidence pointed to the UK operating at a “world class standard in technology transfer” – a standard which is contingent on preserving and extending the excellent research base on which the UK innovation economy is founded. Universities have professional, skilled staff who are able to help businesses of all sizes to navigate institutions, engage with researchers and identify funding for collaboration and commercialisation. This success is demonstrated in the many case studies of success identified by PraxisUnico, HEFCE and NCUB and should be widely promoted to encourage more businesses and other external organisations to engage with universities for social and economic impact.