The routes through which the science base is translated into innovative and competitive technology. Vol. I, Report and appendices, together with the proceedings of the Committee / Science and Technology Committee.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology.
Date:
1994
Catalogue details

Licence: Open Government Licence

Credit: The routes through which the science base is translated into innovative and competitive technology. Vol. I, Report and appendices, together with the proceedings of the Committee / Science and Technology Committee. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    68. While the bulk of support for research comes from national organisations funded by the Federal Government, often in conjunction with the Lander, individual Lander may have their own mechanisms for encouraging technology diffusion, especially between local universities, technical colleges and SMEs. One such is the Steinbeis Stiftung in Baden Wurtemburg in which selected “Steinbeis Professors’ employed at local technical colleges are allowed to spend up to 20 per cent of their time on paid consultancy work for industry. Contacts are arranged by the Steinbeis Stiftung. We were also impressed by the Institute for Micro Electronics in Stuttgart which provided customised “chips” for local Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs). This Institute was funded by the Federal and Land Governments, the European Community (EC) and local industry and co-operated with the State University and with Siemens. A wide range of organisations co-operated to provide hi-tech products which had been identified as vital for local Small and Medium Sized Enterprises. 69. One of the effects of the structural differences in the financing and location of R&D in different countries may be that UK industry will find it more difficult to use the science and technology developed through public funds than do German and Japanese companies. Industrial spending on R&D in Germany and Japan is far higher than here. This not only means a greater part of these countries’ science and technology base is located in industry, but it also gives industry the expertise necessary to absorb science and technology developed elsewhere, including in the UK Science Base. 70. In addition the ‘players’ in the German and Japanese systems have relatively clearly defined roles. This can be overstated; Japanese universities conduct research for industry as do some Max Planck Institutes, and many universities in Germany. Nonetheless, by comparison with the UK, each country offers a range of potential collaborators and companies will be able to identify suitable partners relatively easily. In the UK, by contrast, most public sector civil research is conducted in the Science Base, and the bulk of this research is conducted within universities. 71. Universities and industry can form strong, effective links in the UK, and indeed one witness told us that the links between industry and HEIs were stronger in the UK than elsewhere.© However, there can be difficulties in identifying suitable partners. As NatWest told us: “the technology transfer infrastructure is fragmented and leads to confusion for the innovators”® There are proposals to remedy this, but we are concerned they may not go far enough. 72. We do not pretend that any country has or could have a simple national system for promoting linkages between individual companies and sources of research or development expertise. However, the extensive concentration on the Science Base as the locus for publicly funded expertise may be a disadvantage. It is not that the Science Base fails; rather, too many demands of too many different sorts are made of it. The Government should consider whether a wider range of technology institutions is needed. Furthermore, in comparison with Japan or Germany, the UK appears to give little assistance to those trying to identify potential collaborators within the Science Base.® Responsibility for the Science Base is shared between the Department for Education (DfE) and OST itself; responsibility for industry lies with the DTI. Until recently, it has largely been left to individual research councils and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to market their own expertise. UK Universities: A Diverse System 73. Even before the abolition of the binary division between universities and polytechnics in 1991, they showed a wide variety in the nature of courses they offered, their research Mem. p. 258. Mem. p.28, see also pp.63, 212. °’Mem. pp. 63, 212.