Regional innovation and the role of regional authorities
Dr Lynn M Martin,
Director of Enterprise and Innovation
University of Central [email protected]
West Midlands Business Contexts
– The West Midlands has received nearly £200 million in funding from EU structural schemes.
– In the heart of England with 5.4 million people, a labour force of 2.7 million. 2,100 overseas companies from 40 different countries
– Managers, professionals and technical staff account for 37% of the region's skills base. Skills across diverse sectors, manufacturing (460,000 employees), professional services (371,000 employees) and ICT (74,000). The largest business and professional service sector outside London.
– IT sector, currently growing at a rate of 20% per annum, is the recognised centre of the UK software industry. Renowned for its advanced transport technology – with 30% of all cars manufactured here.
– There were a total of 145,000 new start-ups registered in the region last year across all sectors
Complexities in regional innovative capacity
‘Hard factors’ – Policy focus that can be identified, targeted and assessed quantitatively.
Examples - numbers of start-ups, qualification levels, rate of ‘churning’, numbers of patents, amount of venture capital etc.
‘Soft factors’– the entrepreneurial culture, especially, whether key actors in the national
innovation system are risk averse, I.e., potential / actual entrepreneurs, those providing money and support, driving and implementing public policy, media, academia, education.
Contexts. – local, regional, national, global contexts. – unfortunately even if you are not interested in the global context, actors
within the global context may be interested in you!
Building regional innovative capacity
Human capital Monetary resources Infrastructure Leadership and vision Entrepreneurial ambition
Regional context for business
Physical and geographical factors– Abundant raw materials and natural resources– Remote or well connected by transport links– History - Urban or rural / Declining or new– High Connectivity or dial up at best
Economic profile– Traditional or new industry base; clusters or
corridors?– Educated work force with right skill mix– Levels of
innovation, enterprise, churning, sectoral base investment in innovation,public-private sector
partnerships, FDI patenting, R & D, university-industry links
Regional context for innovation
Enterprise and innovation aspects– Who does research with whom?– Do small firms link with other firms, the research base?– What is the tradition re employment,self employment,
enterprise, technology and innovation and enterprise across the region?
– Convergence / uniqueness Internal and external assets
– What is the regional brand or image?– What does the regional knowledge base look like?– Which linkages / networks are seen as assets across
region and outside the region?– How does the region retain its departing assets, e.g,
graduates
Questions for regions on theirinnovative capacity
How proactive or responsive is your region? Is it part of cross-regional clusters or actions? How well does your region connect with
innovation and enterprise? Can your region deal with change? Does your region have the capacity to deal
with support (funds, new contacts etc) or with difficult trading conditions?
Can your region reinvent itself if it has to?
Tangible indicators
Money– Is money available for business start up,
growth and exit, for innovation? – Is money available for non-traditional
businesses without tangible collateral, e.g., high technology; under-represented groups
– How rapidly is money available? Do people know?
Regulation / links– How easy is it to start, grow or end a
business or to protect IP? – How hard is it to link with large firms,
universities, other small firms? Do universities, small firms etc think it’s worth it?
– Is there a regional response to new international change or regulations?
Soft factors
relate to the underpinning processes and enabling fabric of the region
– Leadership, vision, Belief, trust, power, value– Risk – ‘Can do’ or ‘Not sure’?– Confidence, – Entrepreneurial culture; innovative ambition; who is an
entrepreneur or an innovator in the region?– Attitudes to innovation, biotechnology, GM, robotics
Soft factors in business– Brand, attributed worth, image. Perceptions– Tone at the top
West Midlands responses
Finance 600 different types of funding, over 760 banks and financial institutions based in the
West Midlands.
first region to launch Regional Venture Capital funds, with a combined value of over £20 million.
regional schemes to stimulate innovation and collaboration such as Innovation Networks.
Specific support
Accelerate –supporting the West Midlands automotive industry, harnessing resources of up to £10m per annum, plus expertise from diverse public and private sector partners, to help small and medium sized automotive firms with growth potential.
Advantage Creative – speciifc support for start ups and growing firms in the creatve industries
Switch On Shropshire: Using Structural Funds for e-interaction
Population 287,900; 0.9 persons per hectare
Shropshire Service Network– 2-8 Mbs symmetric network for all schools,
libraries and offices. 114 telephone exchanges of which 98 are within the County all xDSL enabled
Providing free advice to SMEs plus 50% grants for:
– Connectivity– Infrastructure upgrades– E-Commerce assistance
35 community broadband access centres (Broadplaces)
Social CapitalSocial Capital
InnovationInnovation
LearningLearning
Linking initiatives together -Bizbrother.com
Problem – Many students don’t connect with enterprise
Solution – tell a story using characters different people can connect with, in a way they find familiar
Idea – Lynn Martin, UCE funded by UK govt via regional university consortium Mercia
Designed / developed by Media Content Lab – a creative HE company at UCE set up with ERDF support, http://www.mediacontentlab.com, offering business solutions to creative needs
Product - Animatronic story of 4 contestants in the Enterprise House
Questions for regional authorities
Do you have have a clear profile of regional innovative capacity, recognising both hard and soft factors?
Does your region provide the right environment to support entrepreneurship and innovation?
– flexible finance, low bureaucracy, enterprising culture to support creativity, infrastructure and human capital components?
Which innovation focus best fits your regional capacity and culture?
Which international best practice extends your regional capacity and meets your regional needs?
How can you facilitate networking and encourage cross-regional cluster development for greater critical mass?
Regional government needs to
Recognise the level of complexity, both hard and soft factors, to have any impact on innovation and entrepreneurship
Include all forms of innovation and stages of the innovation process e.g., no over-focus on specific sectors or business stage or on invention rather than commercialisation
combine less bureaucracy with more flexibility in systems, allow budding entrepreneurs and innovators to grow new business roots.
recognise and develop regional innovative capacity
Your challenge
Team-work – Bring together the different actors in your region to work
together, together ideas and build an innovative region Access the best players and managers
– Scope the competition– Harness money and other resources to support innovation
Will to win – To build an entrepreneurial culture in your own organisation
to reflect the way your region should be– To be aware of external and internal factors, ready to re-
invent the region when conditions change