The United Kingdom seems to have a need to double innovation funding and launch new technology centers. One technology entrepreneur has proposed a British network of centers where scientists could turn their inventions into commercial products. He is now surprised at how well the government’s first crop of Catapult centers had progressed. The entrepreneur’s initial advice was made in a report for the Labour government 4 years ago and adopted later in 2010.


Apparently, the UK continues to play catch up with other countries, including Germany, where support for science spin-outs is better funded. The recommendations were to set up 1-2 new Catapults per year in order to expand the network from the 7 current centers to 20 by 2020 and 30 by 2030. However, in this case the budget for Innovate UK would need to double to £1bn per year by 2020.

The entrepreneur said the Catapults had helped lift the international standing of Britain and 4 years on from his original report he was encouraged that all 7 centers were working well.

Established to bridge the gulf between an idea and launching a successful business product, the Catapult centers allow both businesses and academics to access the multimillion-pound equipment and laboratories to develop the prototypes of their products. Under the project, inventors are able to rent equipment and people to work on their ideas in such areas as cell therapy, offshore renewable energy and high value manufacturing (for example, printable electronics).

Although the existing centers work well, there are still a number of areas for improvement. For example, there can be better links between Catapults and small and medium-sized businesses that would have allowed them benefit more from the facilities receiving 1/3 of their funding from the taxpayer and 1/3 from industry. The rest of the funds can be raised via competitive tendering for projects including grants and other sorts of funding. This model can be kept, and some warn against following the lead of governments elsewhere that only fund the setting-up of innovation centers, without taking care of their long term running costs. Finally, better links with educational institutions, both in the United Kingdom and all over the world, would also be helpful to motivate the development of innovation and technology in the country.