Innovation is not a niche policy area
Author: Chris WebberDate: 17/10/2008
Publication: New Start
The turmoil in financial markets has focused attention on stabilising the financial system. When the storm eventually clears, however, policy makers will get back to the business of long-term growth, and that means supporting innovation.
Innovation - the commercial application of new knowledge and ideas - has climbed up the policy agenda over the past ten years, with more investment in research, more science parks and a stronger focus on university-business links. But the emphasis on innovation as a niche policy area is also causing problems.
Cities need to nurture and attract innovative businesses and workers. Failing to do so risks choking off innovation in an economy. Often the most important thing that cities can do is to deal with the wider barriers to growth - in areas like transport, housing and planning.
This means dealing with congestion in places like Dublin, Manchester and London. It means making housing more affordable in places like Cambridge, where house prices are nearly ten times the average salaries of residents. And it means improving planning processes so that developments like Birmingham New Street Station and the extension of York University's campus aren't held up for years on end.
City-regions also need to simplify organisational structures around business and innovation support. A manufacturing firm in the Birmingham city-region currently has to grapple with at least fifty-five support initiatives across twenty-nine delivery organisations or partnerships. There are six separate public bodies brokering access to the university region's universities. Businesses have a diverse range of needs, but this kind of complexity baffles more businesses than it helps. City-regions need to grasp the opportunities presented by devolution to rationalise the organisational structures around innovation and business support.
Finally, policy makers also need to adopt a more nuanced and realistic attitude towards university-led growth. Not every city can be like Oxford or Cambridge. Public sector research funding in Cambridge equates to almost £800 per resident per year. Even in London where the city as a whole gets nearly 30 percent of the national research budget, the per head figure is still less than £50 a year. It's top universities in small cities that have more potential to drive overall economic growth. Larger cities such as London, Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham must have other strings to their bows - their universities will play a part in growth, but they will only ever be one part of a much wider growth story. Strategies and investments need to reflect this reality.
Innovation has become a key focus of economic policy, and rightly so. But policy makers need to think about the bigger picture when setting investment priorities. This means focusing on accessibility and a streamlined, more efficient business support system. It means adopting a more nuanced approach to university-led growth. And it also means dealing with the wider barriers to innovation and growth like transport, housing and planning. Innovation is not a niche policy area. The key policy levers for innovation and economic growth are the same. Decision makers need to create the conditions for growth if they want the economy to flourish.
A version of this article first appeared in New Start magazine
Read Innovation, science and the city by Chris Webber
