Public sector support for innovation in a regional context:

The Kent experience

Ross Gill 3 July 2010

Overview

• The Kent economy and the innovation imperative

• Current innovation policy...• ... And actions under way• The changing policy landscape• Future challenges for Kent

Kent in context

The regional advantage

Kent’s economic gap: GVA per head

New business: VAT registrations

Why innovation?

“The successful exploitation of new ideas”- SEEDA, Leadership for Innovation, 2009

“In the future, regional innovation policy will be potentially more important: and certainly

more difficult”- Dr Paul Nightingale, University of Sussex

Current regional policy

Current national goal: “A global leader in innovation and a magnet

for innovative businesses”• Targets to increase expenditure on R&D• Increasing turnover attributable to new

products• Increased emphasis on university-business

collaboration

But...

Key pillars of a strategic approach

• Support: The Innovation and Growth Team• Space: Premises for growing business• Sectors: Low carbon and creativity• Skills: Bridging the skills gap; releasing

potential

Support

• Focusing on high growth firms, from start-ups to large corporations

• Locally based: understanding the area, local networks and the market

• Linked with wider support infrastructure

Space

Sectors

Skills

% of workforce qualified to NVQ4+

The changing political economy

Some questions...

• From your perspective, where do you think our efforts should be?...

• Does innovation policy work at local level – or should we look bigger?...

• How can we best work with expert knowledge to get the upstream evidence downstream into delivery?

Thank you!

Ross GillEconomic Strategy & Policy Manager

Kent County CouncilRoss.gill@kent.gov.uk+44 (0)1622 221312+44 (0)7837 872705