The Centre is being set up in response to the Governmentas aInnovation Nationa White Paper (March 200 and is jointly funded by four partners: the Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills, the Economic and Social Research Council; the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts; and the Technology Strategy Board. In addition to their research, members of both institutions are involved in developing business practice and policy advice in the fields of innovation and knowledge exchange at national and international levels a for example, contributing to the UK Innovation and Productivity Grand Challenge and the recent Australian National Innovation Review. The Centre will ensure that new research on innovation in both the public and private sectors has effect on policy and practice. In addition to building research capabilities, the UK Innovation Research Centre will also disseminate its work through a aKnowledge Exchange Huba.
Professor Alan Hughes, director of the UK Innovation Research Centre and director of the Centre for Business Research, explains the context for the initiative: aInnovation is much more broadly defined than it used to be. Itas not just about successfully introducing new products; innovation in services, processes, even in business models and ways of working is increasingly important. We need new research so that both practitioners and policymakers can understand the key issues in all these forms of innovation a particularly when current global economic conditions make it more important than ever to ensure that the UKas innovative capacity is enhanced.a