UKSPA Directory 2017
009
Chairman’s letter
Resolve
to evolve
Dr David Hardman MBE, UKSPA Chairman, believes
intrinsic dynamism drives innovation ecologies
W
e define our diverse
locations as innovation
ecologies which, as with
all natural ecological
systems, are subject to
external influences driving the need for
intrinsic dynamism.
We are all subject to technological,
socio-economic, and political
influences. These Darwinian forces
determine that the most fit for the
prevailing conditions will prosper or,
in our parlance, become successful
locations, each hosting a cluster of
technology-orientated businesses.
We all need to manage our ecologies.
We must flex our offerings to intervene
and address limiting factors which, if
left, would become barriers to our
client businesses, impacting on their
development and standing in the way
of success. If they are going to thrive,
tenant businesses must adapt or be
provided with the help they need to
adapt, or they must move to a more
benign environment better suited to
their needs, or they will die.
ORCHESTR ATING CHANGE
We orchestrate and influence a
broadly holistic offering to build,
extend and update legacy strengths
and create regional economic
substance. This means these days we
cannot be just passive geographies
generating localised islands of critical
mass. Instead, we must integrate with,
and be active within, our local
economic geographies.
There is a need for change. Our
current offering is, to my mind, directed
towards Generation Y entrepreneurs
and innovators – those “tech savvy”
people born between 1980 and 2000.
Gen Y are fluent in web and mobile and
early adopters of new technologies, but
the true entrepreneurs of the future are
the “tech innate”, born since 2000.
This upcoming Generation Z is
a population fluent in mobile and
social platforms. They communicate
via images, enjoy global reach and
develop friendships through virtual
connections. Their outlook on life
embeds technology at its heart.
w e n e e d t o p r o m o t e i n n o vat i o n . T o
d o t h at w e n e e d t o e n g a g e w i t h
t h e b r o a d e s t p o ss i b l e m i n d - s e t s
Arguably, it is these most creative
and innovative young people that we
should aim to foster as clients. But, they
are also most likely to be at the extreme
end of the new social characteristics.
The old static, geographically-fixed
offering is unlikely to appeal to them.
CULTIVATING GEN Z APPE AL
We need to promote innovation. To
do that we need to engage with the
broadest possible mind-sets.
This directory demonstrates the
current diversity of offerings and
stakeholders in the science park
movement today, which has been
fit-for-purpose. However, largely thanks
to the directed evolution imposed by
the exponential digital revolution,
our diversity is set to get a whole lot
broader… Let’s resolve to evolve! ■