PraxisUnico and AURIL respond to the Industrial Strategy Green Paper

PraxisUnico and AURIL welcome the Industrial Strategy Green Paper and in particular the Government’s recognition of and commitment to science, research and innovation as the first strategic ‘pillar’. Our focus in this response is on the role of Knowledge Exchange and Commercialisation (KEC) Professionals and their role in helping to stimulate innovation, productivity and growth; locally, nationally and internationally (see also our written response to the Select Committee Inquiry 'Managing IP and Technology Transfer).  We welcome the new public investment that has been provided through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and the recognition by the Government that public funding should ‘crowd in’ private. The Green Paper puts high expectations on the university sector to deliver innovations for growth, particularly through commercialisation of research, so while we welcome the intention to strengthen support for universities to work with external partners we were disappointed that there was continued focus on spin-outs in the Green Paper; these are an important but small part of a much wider range of knowlege exchange vehicles used by the research base to generate both income and impact.