Member Article

Region plays major role in technology masterplan

The Deputy Prime Minister yesterday announced that the North East would be central to its plans to create the UK’s first elite technology innovation centre.

Focusing in the area of high value manufacturing, the centre will provide access for business to the best technical expertise, infrastructure, skills and equipment that would otherwise be outside the reach of individual companies.

The consortium behind the project is made up of the North East-based Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), The Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), The Nuclear AMRC, The National Composites Centre and Warwick Manufacturing Group.

It will receive substantial investment to maximise the economic growth potential of new technology, building on the UK’s strength in basic and applied research, in areas where substantial global markets are forecast.

Nick Clegg said: “This first elite technology and innovation centre in high value manufacturing will support our objective to rebalance the economy by underpinning current UK manufacturing strengths through the development and deployment of novel technologies into sectors such as aerospace, automotive and pharmaceuticals, whilst at the same time driving the UK into leading positions in new high growth markets by creating a platform for innovative SMEs to work with larger companies in developing technologies such as plastic electronics, fibre reinforced polymer composites and biotechnology.”

Business Secretary, Vince Cable, added: “Each of these partners brings with it a strong network of linkages with universities specialising in developing leading edge technologies in their areas of focus, and industrial companies seeking to co-develop and then exploit these in the market place.”

The planned investment of £200m plus into a network of technology and innovation centres was announced by the Prime Minister in October 2010 and, as a driver of key technologies which continues to achieve tough goals and expand the horizons of innovation, was welcomed by CPI. Based on propositions by Hermann Hauser and James Dyson, the technology innovation centre model has been championed by CPI since its inception in 2004.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .