POLICY SUBMISSION THE SCOTTISH FUNDING COUNCIL ON DEVELOPMENT OF A SINGLE KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE OFFICE. October

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1 POLICY SUBMISSION THE SCOTTISH FUNDING COUNCIL ON DEVELOPMENT OF A SINGLE KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE OFFICE October

2 SCDI is an independent and inclusive economic development network which seeks to influence and inspire government and key stakeholders with our ambitious vision to create shared sustainable economic prosperity for Scotland. For more information on this response please contact the SCDI Policy Team at 1 Cadogan Square Cadogan Street Glasgow G2 7HF e gareth.williams@scdi.org.uk t

3 Development of a Single Office of Knowledge Exchange 1. SCDI is an independent membership network that strengthens Scotland s competitiveness by influencing Government policies to encourage sustainable economic prosperity. SCDI s membership includes businesses, trades unions, local authorities, educational institutions, the voluntary sector and faith groups. 2. SCDI proposed the creation of a Single Office of Technology Transfer in our Blueprint for Scotland (2010) as one of a number of measures to drive higher levels of innovation in the economy and build on the progress which higher education institutions have, in general, made in improving links and access to research for the business base. SCDI recognised that there are fundamental, long-term challenges about the capacity of the Scottish business base to absorb research and, while suggesting action to tackle these demand-side issues, our proposal was aimed at making the supply-side as business-friendly as possible. 3. In making this proposal, SCDI was not seeking the creation of extra bureaucracy which might further disconnect researchers with those knowledge transfer professionals who would understand the commercial potential and how best to develop it. Rather we considered that the Single Office would raise practices across the sector as a whole to the levels of the best, provide strategic leadership aligned with national and international priorities, and influence the supply of research based on business demand, including inward investors and SMEs. SCDI was pleased to be asked to be a member of the Single Office of Knowledge Exchange Joint Working Group. This was presented with a range of international and national evidence which has influenced the development of our own thinking. We were broadly content with the proposals of the Working Group. Is the remit of the national policy forum correct? 4. SCDI supports the creation of the National Policy Forum for public sector support for knowledge exchange. SCDI is content with the proposed remit for the Forum. 5. The Forum needs to be structured in such a way that it has sufficient influence to ensure buy-in from all those represented on it and to drive alignment and change through the system. It also needs to be sufficiently independent of Government to advise on and shape long-term policy and to respect institutional independence. 6. There is strong momentum behind this agenda and the Forum should be established soon. One of its first priorities should be to review how universities are engaging with SMEs and best practice, and whether and how the enterprise networks are bringing demand, especially from SMEs, to the university sector. There is a need to develop a more strategic approach to engaging with SMEs. 7. The Forum should review the effectiveness of the incentives and rewards which are available for knowledge exchange for both businesses and universities. 1

4 There should be more emphasis on longer-term benefits than numbers, both in how the success of activity is measured and in how progress is rewarded. 8. Another early priority should be common contracts, identifying whether these are being adopted and, if not, the barriers within the university sector, industry and government to their adoption. There is a need, progressively, to match-up standard university, government and industry contracts, working with lawyers. The Forum can show strategic leadership on this issue, not least because government contracts can often be one of the barriers to standardisation. What membership should the forum have to deliver this remit? 9. The Forum should be led by a Government Minister and include industry, higher education institutions and public sector funders. Deputy Chairs could be appointed from industry and the universities. The members from industry should include at least one representative from an SME, who can advise on how to increase demand from SMEs to be involved in knowledge exchange activity. 10. It would be useful to involve legal and financial business advisers in the Forum. What functions might usefully be included in a system of national support to be delivered by Interface? 11. SCDI believes that Interface is performing successfully, having helped to simplify the knowledge exchange landscape for SMEs and enhance links between universities and businesses. SCDI welcomes the proposal that it should continue to be part of the new landscape. SCDI agrees that it could further stimulate engagement between SMEs and higher education institutions, deal with enquiries from the broader business base and host university.technology.com. 12. SCDI supports the suggestion that there should be national co-ordination of common contracts. However, it believes that there should be further discussion about whether this should be assured through Interface or by universities working more closely in partnership. SCDI suggests that it would be useful to develop a national strategy to raise and share awareness of common contracts and contract issues across universities, industry and SMEs, and business advisers. As previously stated, there is a need to promote standardisation across them all. 13. The strategy could include joint seminars funded by the Scottish Government and/ or Scottish Enterprise across Scotland. Solicitors could be accredited annually in Continuing Professional Development for knowledge exchange training and, should their contract for knowledge exchange necessitate one, SMEs could be encouraged to use only accredited solicitors for this purpose. 14. SCDI believes that there is a risk in the suggestion that Interface s remit should be amended to add spin-out support that this fundamentally would change its role and detract from Interface s successful focus on knowledge exchange. 2

5 For which additional functions could the sector share expertise to enhance engagement with industry? 15. SCDI understands that Interface has access to data on knowledge exchange activity from the enterprise networks, Business Gateway and the universities. Interface could become the knowledge centre for the National Policy Forum. Do ILGs provide sufficient coverage of the business base to meet the objectives for sector streams? If not, are there other collective industry bodies that the SFC should engage with to carry out this role? 16. The ILGs should generally provide the best coverage of the business base for their sector, but there may be a need to strengthen some of their memberships to take on this role. The ILGs are currently refreshing a number of the sector strategies and it may be useful to review what the existing strategies say about knowledge exchange and whether the refreshed strategies should say more about future demand from industry, include specific targets for knowledge exchange and/ or explain how the sector will work with academia. For some sectors, existing bodies already provide a successful knowledge exchange infrastructure (see below) and there may be a need to involve sub-sectors too. 17. While some ILGs cover a whole sector, the structure for the energy sector includes the Energy Advisory Board plus five ILGs (Oil and Gas, Renewables, Thermal Generation and Carbon Capture and Storage, Economic and Grid, and Skills). There are areas of research and industry opportunity that are not represented by industry on this Board e.g. nuclear and hydrogen and the SFC, ILGs, Scottish Enterprise and industry associations need to consider for each sector whether the overarching ILG would provide sufficient coverage or whether sub-groups and/ or industry associations would need to be engaged too. 18. Universities already appoint Visiting Professors from industry to inform their teaching and academic research. Perhaps sectoral networks of these Visiting Professors could be attached to the ILGs to support their demand articulation. 19. SCDI has some concerns about the suggestion that the Sector Knowledge Exchange Director may become another front-door for enquiries from the sectoral base. This would create more points of enquiry for business rather than simplify the landscape. Their role should be strategic rather than one of delivery. As proposed, the Director would sit within and be managed by an individual university as are the Directors of the Research Pools. It is important (particularly if they are to be front-doors for industry) that the Directors are regarded across the university sector and by industry as independent and not favouring their own institutions. If this is the case, perhaps they should be managed separately. 20. The Director should become a member of the ILG or routinely attend its meetings in order to report on progress with the implementation of the sectoral strategy and brief the sector on emerging opportunities for knowledge exchange. 3

6 21. The ILGs are high-level groups. Account managers in Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise should have a key role in ensuring that the ILG is briefed about emerging demand across their sectoral business base; communicating the strategies and priorities back to businesses; and in informing businesses of the capabilities in academia, especially in applied research, and encouraging industry to approach universities about knowledge exchange. This key channel needs to be monitored and held accountable for its effectiveness. 22. There is a need for clarity on how the structure and the Directors would relate to the new Innovation Centres, the new Catapults, the new Fraunhofer Centre, the new National Centre for Universities and Business, and other regional initiatives. 23. Demand for knowledge exchange may be cross-sectoral. This underlines a key point that the new sectoral structures for knowledge exchange must also facilitate rather than be a barrier to knowledge exchange across and in-between sectors. The Director (individually or in partnership) must be able to drive knowledge exchange strategies on behalf of their sector across a range of research areas. 24. SCDI s primary interest in knowledge exchange is sustainable economic development and the Ministerial Guidance to the Scottish Funding Council was that a single Knowledge Exchange Office should deliver the harmonisation of systems and approaches to establishing linkages between academia and industry across the whole of the sector will help simplify the academic landscape for business. SCDI has, therefore, focussed our comments on knowledge exchange between higher education institutions and businesses. However, we recognise that knowledge exchange on public policy can also lead to a better decision-making which enables sustainable economic development as well as other social and environmental objectives. The question arises as to whether there should be equivalent demand-articulation groups for the public sector. SCDI would not wish the National Policy Forum to be any less focussed on its proposed remit of monitoring the effectiveness of knowledge exchange between higher education institutions and business. The key industries and the proposed National Support Structures include existing and additional infrastructure which, again, provides support for links between academia and industry. However, it is worth considering whether there would be value in sector streams for public policy. Potentially, these could be focussed on the three areas of preventative spending which have been identified as priorities by the Scottish Government in the Scottish Spending Review, adult social care, early years and tackling reoffending, and, given their key roles, they could involve social enterprises. Where there is existing knowledge exchange infrastructure focussed on an industry sector how might this be co-ordinated under a national sector strategy? 25. Industry bodies, such as the Industry Technology Facilitator for oil and gas, already successful provide knowledge exchange infrastructure for their sector. It would be counterproductive for Government to try to duplicate such activities, rather than to support these bodies, simply for the sake of sectoral consistency. 4

7 26. A number of these bodies may already be members of the ILGs. If so, the ILG could simply delegate the role of identifying the strategy and priorities. If not, there is a case for them to join the ILG given these proposals for the ILG roles. For industry sectors where there is currently an inadequate knowledge exchange infrastructure how might this be developed on a collaborative basis in the context of limited public funding? 27. There are areas of research and industry opportunity which are not presently covered by an ILG. Consideration should be given to sectors in the environmental and low carbon goods and services market which have been identified as particular opportunities for Scotland, such as water and waste. Transport and logistics is another important industry sector for Scotland where Scotland has research strengths and there is a strong demand for innovation. Gareth Williams Head of Policy Scottish Council for Development and Industry 5