Can design make science and technology more competitive?

Lord Sainsbury of Turville and the Design Council

What's the issue?

In his Treasury Review of science and innovation, published 5 October 2007, Lord Sainsbury of Turville put forward a range of policy proposals to boost the commercial performance of UK science and technology businesses. He said that if the UK is to remain competitive in an increasingly global marketplace, design must be a strategic part of science businesses and of higher-education for the science and technology sector. He has proposed a new service to make design advice available to science businesses through universities.

His review takes on ideas developed by the Design Council and the government has backed his recommendations with a pledge to invest £1billion.

What does the Review say about design?

Lord Sainsbury recognises the need for a better understanding of the skills required to manage the design and operation of a UK science and innovation industry with global scope. He includes examples of how design has helped science businesses be more competitive and, following contributions from the Design Council, he makes recommendations about how design should be incorporated and expanded in science and technology higher education.

He proposes a new service to make design advice available to key technology businesses in universities across the country.

Here's a summary of some of the key design points from the Review:

Accelerating scientific innovation through design --
point 9.43, page 155

The Cox Review (2005) looked at how the UK could harness its world-class creative skills to improve business competitiveness and its recommendations are already having a tangible impact.

The Cox Review was commissioned by the then-Chancellor Gordon Brown in 2005 and its recommendations are now being taken forward by a number of organisations, including the Design Council, the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), OGC, HMRC and HEFCE. In particular, the roll-out of Designing Demand – a national design programme for SMEs – is well underway. Five RDAs are currently delivering the programme, with a further four due to deliver during 2008. A total of 6,500 businesses are expected to have benefited from the service by the end of 2010.

The Cox Review highlighted how design input is especially important to the successful exploitation of new technology and included two recommendations specific to the science and technology sector:

• The establishment of university-based Centres of Excellence to bring together the disciplines of design, engineering, technology and business, to address the challenges of future innovation and create world-beating products and services. The first Centre of Excellence, announced in October 2006, is a partnership between the RCA, the Imperial College Faculty of Engineering and Tanaka Business School.
• The delivery of a specialist design service for technology businesses as part of the Designing Demand programme. Early evaluation demonstrates that 80 per cent of companies involved in the pilot scheme improved their financial prospects by finding it easier to raise funding, increasing investment, launching new services/products, and generating early sales and revenue.

The science and innovation strategies of Regional Development Agencies -- point 9.44, page 156

Evidence suggests that the use of design helps scientists to develop commercial applications for their work while it is still at the research stage or at the outset of the technology transfer process. Pilot Designing Demand Innovate schemes – run in partnership between the Design Council, the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) and UCL (University College London) Ventures – involved designers working with a range of university researchers and technology transfer intermediaries. They reported that the design input they received raised academics’ awareness of future applications of their technologies, helped to get ideas across to research collaborators and potential investors, and shaped the future direction of the IP being developed and enabled them to retain a higher proportion. 

Designing Demand Innovate: company testimonials

Axon Automotive

A design-led strategic shake-up has put Cranfield University spin-off Axon Automotive on the road to producing a revolutionary, affordable and energy-efficient car made from carbon fibre.

This strategic repositioning is starting to pay off. In March 2006, the Axon Car was awarded a £500,000 grant equal to half the investment needed to develop a prototype vehicle. The company now has a full-time management team and has graduated from the campus at Cranfield into its own premises, close to one of its new business partners, Northamptonshire-based Scott Bader. Axon is in discussion with potential investors to take the Axon Car through to production.

Steve Cousins, Axon Automotive Founder says: "Participating in Innovate had a massive impact on Axon. It made us think about strategically designing the business, and gave us the confidence to seek funding and pitch for larger sums than we would have done otherwise."

Synature

Adding design to a new breed of online search technology has opened up a market forecast to be worth $1 billion by 2008. Synature has landed six-figure investment along with its first licensing deal – with MyTravel – after taking part in the Designing Demand Innovate service.

Andrew Fraser, Founder, Synature says: "We thought the technology spoke for itself. But we realised that potential partners, customers and investors wouldn’t be able to visualise how it would work in practice. The penny dropped for me about how much design can do, and how broad the idea of design is. Understanding that design decisions could maximise the value of the company is exactly what I needed to do."

Recommendation 9.8 of the Sainsbury review, page 157 

Building of the success of Designing Demand Innovate, and subject to BSSP (a Business Support Simplification Programme), Regional Development Agencies should consider how to support and expand the scheme to include the provision of specialists design support for Higher Education Institutes within key technology clusters. The new element of the programme could be developed and piloted by the Design Council in partnership with selected RDAs and would provide:

• Design training for technology transfer staff and intermediaries, delivered by a national training institute for technology transfer such as PRAXIS;
• Quality assured Design associates to advise selected clients on issues such as idea generation, product development, users research, testing and prototyping; and
• Structured design support for postgraduate researchers exploring and shaping commercial outcomes from their research.

How was the Design Council involved in this Sainsbury Review?

In November 2006 the Design Council initiated a technology policy alliance between the Engineering Employers Federation (EEF), the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), National technology transfer network facilitator UNICO, and the University of Cambridge Centre for Economic Policy. 

As the alliance was set up, it was announced that Lord Sainsbury would be conducting a Treasury Review into UK science and innovation. The alliance decided this would be focus of its first project.

The Design Council also made an independent contribution to the Review. It met with Lord Sainsbury to discuss how design had benefited science and technology businesses and to bring to life how design could form a central part of his plans for the future of this sector.