Navigating innovation and policy in uncertain times – Project dissemination event

On Wednesday 11 June at Aston University, Dr Dalila Ribaudo, Dr Tasos Kitsos, Dr Charlotte Hoole and Prof Jun Du, held a joint dissemination event (‘Navigating innovation and policy in uncertain times’) for their IRC Flex Fund projects.

Project summaries

Dalila’s project ‘UK Firms’ R&D Internationalisation: A Comprehensive and Statistical Review’ will provide a comprehensive overview of cross-border R&D by UK firms, analyzing how they have adapted to major economic shocks particularly in response to Brexit and COVID-19. This involves examining the innovation collaborations with foreign partners and the variation in innovation efforts across different industrial sectors, with a special focus on green and digital technologies.

Tasos’ project ‘Building winners: the policy levers for impactful innovation’ explores innovation as a driver of growth and productivity, and how not all innovations or innovative activities are equal in the UK. The project aims to foster better innovations in different places and their adoption by non-innovating companies. The project explores questions such as what some of the most impactful innovations are and, perhaps more importantly, how can policymakers help the delivery of impactful innovations?

What happened at the workshop?

The first half of the event provided an opportunity for the project teams to not only discuss their respective research projects and gather feedback from IRC Co-Investigators, Prof Raquel Ortega-Argiles and Dr Halima Jibril, but to also collate general thoughts on the state of innovation and technology development in the UK, and the role R&D collaboration plays in this.

The second half of the workshop delved into innovation policy, including current developments and future directions, through both a panel discussion and a sandpit session. The sandpit part in particular helped map gaps and opportunities for co-creating innovation policy.

Hear what event organiser, Dalila, had to say about the workshop:

“The workshop created a unique space where academics, innovators, patent experts, and policymakers could exchange perspectives, grounding innovation policy in real-world practice. The conversations were rich and constructive, pointing towards meaningful ways to better support inventors and strengthen the UK’s innovation landscape.”

Check out the illustrations below which summarise the various sessions from the day and the key takeaways.

We’re also pleased to share that since the event, Tasos’ project team’s report has been published on our website and can be accessed here: ‘Building Winners: Strengthening the UK Innovation Ecosystem.