Region's innovation agenda given ministerial seal of approval

An ambitious blueprint to establish innovation at the heart of UK development was discussed on the Tees Valley recently.
Speaking to an invited audience of 150 business people, politicians, researchers and educationalists, Ian Pearson, Minister of State for Science and Innovation at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) will talk about the Innovation White Paper, Innovation Nation, which outlines plans for the country to prosper in a globalised economy.

The conference, Innovation Nation: Innovation Region, will also examine how these plans may impact on North East England.
The experience of the region in recent years has been influential in the development of the Government’s plans and a number of regional developments will be showcased.

The Minister will outline the roles of Government, business and research in delivering this agenda but also the importance of innovative places including leading locations across the North East.

Regional companies including the Leighton Group and Complement Genomics will be highlighted as well as innovation leader the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and its role in catalysing change in the process sector.

Mr Pearson said: "We want to make the UK the best place in the world to run an innovative business or public service, where innovation can flourish across every area of the economy. The North East can play a big part in this.

"Innovation is critical to the UK’s future prosperity, our quality of life and future job prospects. It will be the key to some of the biggest challenges facing our society, like global warming and sustainable development.

"The Government will do more to ensure UK based businesses are able to benefit from the demand it drives for new innovative products and services – through the £150bn it spends or the new markets it creates. But I also want to hear from businesses and other stakeholders about how we can create the right environment for innovation to happen."

The Innovation White Paper, Innovation Nation, which was published in March this year, singled out the CPI and another innovative regional initiative Dott 07 (Designs of the Time 07) as innovation best practice.

The Minister will be able to hear directly from those people at the heart of the region’s innovation agenda to gain a better understanding of the North East’s ability to support the UK’s ambitions within this broad agenda.

The Minister will be hosted at the Wynyard Rooms in the Tees Valley, where he’ll officially launch the Innovation White Paper in the North East and take part in an interactive question and answer panel session with representatives from the region’s innovation community, including researchers, innovation specialists and industry leaders.

The Innovation White Paper has been well received in the North East and the Minister’s visit will enable the region to present its case as an innovation region within an innovation nation.

The Minister will be presented with a review of what the region has already achieved in the transformation of the region’s economic prospects through the establishment of national innovation centres for new markets such as the New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC), and radical new interventions under development such as the UK Plastic Electronics Technology Centre (PETEC) at NETPark, and the ambitious future agenda to develop the workforce of the future working in a low carbon economy.  

Chairman of One North East Margaret Fay, who will welcome the Minister on behalf of the region, said: “We’re extremely proud that we’re establishing this region as a centre of excellence for innovation and we were delighted when the CPI and Dott 07 were held up as best practice in the Innovation White Paper.

"As an Agency we will continue to shout about the region’s successes and to be highlighted by the Government as we are in this paper is a real vote of confidence on everything the North East is trying to achieve."

The region’s leading business organisation, the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC), launched a campaign in June to highlight and celebrate its most innovative members.

Chris Atkins, chairman of the NECC Innovation campaign group and BT general manager, said: "This is an important debate that will highlight the crucial role innovation is currently playing - and will increasingly play - in growing the North East economy.

"In the current climate, it is more vital than ever that companies look to innovate to outstrip their competitors both in the UK and abroad.

"The NECC Innovation campaign has already encountered many brilliant examples of North East companies innovating and we will look to use these case studies to encourage more firms to push the boundaries of innovation."