UKSPA Directory 2017
011
Chief Executive’s letter
Supporting
future science
A foreword by Paul Wright: The CEO of UKSPA considers how the
Science Park movement will support future industry strategy
M
y time as CEO of UKSPA
gives me 16 years of
experience to look back and
recognise the evolution of
UK science and technology
parks and the position in which we find
ourselves now.
Seven out of ten pillars in Theresa
May’s industrial strategy directly
relate to the work of the Science Park
movement, but the strategy overall
remains focused on large corporates,
big companies, and big turnover. It fails
to mention entrepreneurialism, SMEs,
or incubation in many places. It
mentions science and technology, and
recognises innovation, but the value of
the Science Parks sector, in being a
vehicle to deliver strategy, simply isn’t
acknowledged. The current industry
strategy, as it stands, neglects the
importance of these places, where
people and companies find the time,
resources, and support to be able to
collaborate on advancements in science
and technology, critical to the future
economcy of our country.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PL ACE
Place is increasingly important moving
forward. Science Parks and other
innovation locations such as incubators
and innovation centres are currently
the only place where government, large
corporates carrying out innovation,
incubation and acceleration, and
entrepreneurs come together. So, the
future of those large, expanded areas of
innovation being envisioned, tech cities
and smart cities, will rely on the Science
Park as a vital part of the overall
innovation ecosystem. The investment,
assets and services are already in place
to support collaborative innovation. On
Science Parks, we already host the soft
and hard infrastructure and, as such, are
a crucial part of the mechanisms that
the government should readliy engage
with in future.
THE POWER OF THE NE T WORK
The power behind Science Parks is
our power of the network. Looking
forward, we must ensure that science
parks are recognised by government as
i n v estme n t, assets a n d se r v i ces
a r e a l r ea d y i n p l ace to suppo r t
co l l a b o r at i v e i n n o vat i o n
established places to collaborate,
network and talk.
Private sector investment is
important but brings with it the
necessity for a return on investment,
which, as parks mature,