Proposals for £200 million technology and innovation centre network

The centre will be the first of an elite national network of centres, to be established and overseen by the Technology Strategy Board, that will work in partnership with universities and businesses to help commercialise the results of research in specific technology areas, where there are potential multi-billion pound global markets. The Technology Strategy Board has published a prospectus that will fast track the creation of a centre focused on high value manufacturing, and outlines plans to establish a network of six to eight world-leading centres in total. It calls for business, academic and other interest groups to comment on the proposals and help shape how the centres will be developed. Sitting between the worlds of academia and of business, they will enable cutting-edge research to be pushed forward that can be swiftly turned into commercial opportunities. In his foreword to the prospectus, Iain Gray, the Technology Strategy Board's chief executive, says that the centres represent a significant long-term investment in the UK economy, commenting: "As the UK's national innovation agency, we are delighted to be taking on responsibility for establishing and overseeing this new initiative, which offers a high degree of synergy with our other activities that drive innovation for the benefit of UK business." The prospectus outlines plans to establish a further six to eight world-leading centres in the initial candidate areas of energy and resource efficiency, transport systems, healthcare, ICT and electronics, photonics and electrical systems. It calls for the business, academic and other interest groups to comment on the proposals and help shape how the centres will be developed. The Technology Strategy Board received funding of £200 million in the Comprehensive Spending Review for the centres.