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Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleTCS Awards 2002 |
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Ladies and Gentlemen, I am delighted to be here at the TCS Awards Dinner to celebrate and recognise the achievements of the participants in the 7 Winning Programmes and the 5 winners of the inaugural 'Business Leaders of Tomorrow' award for current TCS Associates. In my Foreword to the TCS Annual Report for 1999/2000, I described TCS as 'one of our best mechanisms for technology transfer'. I went on to say 'it continues to deliver significant benefits for the overwhelming majority of those who participate in it', and our Award Winners tonight demonstrate that point very clearly. As always, there is an interesting mix of projects, reflecting the broad church that is TCS. They cover environmental impact assessments, music and multi-media, a new product range for a company manufacturing laundry equipment, a revolutionary approach to producing printed circuit boards, the introduction of a marketing capability into a company and a sophisticated web-based system for making available information about the drinks and beverages sector. Each Programme has, in its own way, provided new opportunities and challenges for the companies involved. What is more, all 8 Associates involved in the Winning Programmes were offered permanent jobs in their host companies on completion of their 2 year TCS Project and 7 of them accepted those offers. It is also likely that the 5 Associates being honoured tonight with the accolade of 'Business Leaders of Tomorrow' will also be receiving job offers from their host companies. Whilst we might expect this success rate for the very best Programmes and Associates, it is a remarkable fact, and testimony to the success of TCS, that around 75% of all TCS Associates are offered permanent employment in their host company on completion. Their continued involvement in the companies helps to further consolidate knowledge transfer whilst continuing to provide challenges and a strong base of experience for their future careers. And then, of course, there is the third participant in a TCS Programme; the 'knowledge base' partner who are, in most cases, university academics whose expertise was sought and made available to help companies gain competitive advantage from science, technology and knowledge. I hope they also feel they have been challenged by the projects as well as improving their understanding of the commercial and business aspects of their chosen field of expertise, and will be using it to enhance the business relevance of their research and the teaching of undergraduates. When the Foreword to the TCS Annual Report for 1999/2000 was written two and a half years ago there were around 650 TCS Programmes; today there are almost 950. The growth that has taken place underlines the recognition of the value of TCS within the DTI, within industry and within our universities. We announced in December 1998, in the Competitiveness White Paper 'Building the Knowledge Driven Economy', that DTI aimed to double its expenditure on TCS and we are delivering on that commitment. That commitment was made following a recommendation for growth contained in the TCS Review Panel's report that the Government inherited in 1997. Some of you will know that the most recent review of TCS was undertaken in the second half of last year and I received the Panel's Report in February this year. In parallel, an Evaluation of TCS was commissioned from economic consultants SQW Ltd. These were extremely helpful and have been fed into the DTI Review of Business Support. As part of this broader review the Department is aiming to build on TCS and address directly many of the central recommendations of the TCS Review:
This review will be done with our partners in TCS. Because whilst TCS is funded to a significant extent by DTI, with the lead being taken by the Government's Small Business Service, it also receives funding support from 5 of our Research Councils, as well as DEFRA, the Department of Health, and the administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. I also see scope for the Regional Development Agencies in England to fund additional TCS activity in their regions in the future on the same basis as do the Scots, Welsh and Northern Irish. Innovation and collaboration between the Knowledge Base and business are at the top of the Government's agenda and last week the Government announced two major reviews to improve innovation throughout the UK economy. The first is a wide-ranging review, which I will lead, examining the contribution that improving the UK's innovation performance will make to closing the productivity gap and it will set out a strategy for improving innovation performance in the UK. This Innovation Review will:
To complement this, Gordon Brown and Patricia Hewitt have asked the former editor of the Financial Times, Richard Lambert, to lead an independent review of how we can boost the UK economy by strengthening the long-term links between business and universities. Richard Lambert's work will feed into the Innovation Review. Boosting innovation in the UK economy is a key factor in our efforts to drive up UK productivity. We want to look more closely at how markets drive innovation through the application of knowledge, know-how and skills to new products, services and processes, and through new ways of doing business. The best businesses, such as the majority of those participating in TCS, know already that innovation is key to their business success. This review will also consider what mechanisms we can use to spread innovative business practice from the best to the rest. Richard Lambert's review of business-university collaboration will build on the Higher Education Strategy to be launched by the Department for Education and Skills in January 2003, and will feed into the work of the Innovation Review, which will report next summer. Two forces, globalisation and major advances in science and technology, have created an unprecedented level of change. In sectors of the developed world which have a high input of unskilled labour they have predictably destroyed jobs, while they have created opportunities in the areas which depend on science, high-level skills and creativity. It is the need to move resources out of the low added-value areas and into the high added-value areas which has led to the emphasis on innovation and the premium attached to the skills of entrepreneurs. I see TCS playing a major role in this agenda of science and technology, knowledge transfer, innovation and skills. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the dedication of the TCS Director and staff of the TCS Central Office who, together with the significant role played by the 25 TCS Consultants based around the UK, manage the day-to-day activities of TCS and help deliver the quality outcomes that arise from TCS. I am delighted to be here tonight to make the awards and offer my congratulations to all the winners; the businesses, the academics and, particularly, the graduates who have faced the challenge of being a TCS Associate and have come through with flying colours and have made their contribution to raising the level of innovation in this country. |
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Other speeches by Lord Sainsbury of Turville
(the following are available from the archive) |
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