NCUB Publishes Book Updating Important ‘Growing Value’ Reports on University-Business Collaboration

As the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee conduct an inquiry into collaboration between universities and a new Universities and Science Minister takes office, the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB), and the UK Innovation Research Centre (UK-IRC), have published a book collecting and updating their previous reports into the role of collaboration in creating economic growth. Growing Value: Business-University Collaboration for the 21st Century provides a comprehensive summary and update of the evidence base for the benefits of collaboration. 

Updated statistics in the book reinforce the recommendations of the Enhancing Value Task Force run by NCUB in its previous incarnation as the Council for Industry and Higher Education. The Task Force completed its original work in 2012 and was headed by David Eyton, Group Head of Technology at BP and Professor Dame Shirley Pearce, former Vice-Chancellor at Loughborough University. The Task Force produced three reports on the value of research and development to the UK economy, which are collected in this new comprehensive publication.

The four key recommendations are:

• Maintain the excellence of the UK research base. The key to this is a long term commitment from government.
• Prioritise and finance collaboration and the sharing of best practice in innovation between UK universities and businesses, local and global.
• Promote entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial management in universities in order to enhance risk-taking and innovation in business.
• Develop consistent but differentiated sector strategies. Here the aim is to ensure that interactions between universities and business match the innovation system of the industry concerned.

David Docherty, NCUB CEO, said:

“As we approach the next general election understanding the research and development landscape in the United Kingdom and ensuring we are maximising value from this research is of utmost importance. This book provides a strong evidence base to underpin this, and we believe our conclusions and recommendations remain valid.”

Growing Value: Business-University Collaboration for the 21st Century is available in e-book format from Amazon and iTunes.

ENDS

Print copies of the book are available to journalists from the NCUB Press Office.

NCUB Press Office – Will Hoyles will.hoyles@ncub.co.uk 07772 512519