Richard Copland: We must learn to innovate if we are to accumulate

It’s fair to say that the methodology and approach of the report only looked at technological innovation with its focus on volumes of patents and their potential success due to reuse. Taking this approach doesn’t take into account the amazing stuff that is happening in financial services and banking. Both these sectors tend to be very creative, but they wouldn’t show up in patents.

The big challenge, which the recent financial crisis highlighted, is to create a balanced economic portfolio that reflects our strengths in every sector. For many years now we have looked jealously to the US and the extraordinary cauldron of innovation that has brewed in Silicon Valley, spouting iconic companies from Hewlett-Packard to Facebook via Oracle, Adobe and Google. These have in turn built platforms for others to build on, creating wealth, skills and employing millions of people.

More recently, eyes have turned to the thunderous progress of Bric countries as they have reshaped the picture of global competition by investing in infrastructure and providing goods and services at costs well below those of the established western powerhouses.

Building a culture of innovation in this country is key to kick-starting the economy, but will require sharp changes in incentives and learning. It is a huge challenge and there is a question mark about the practicalities of whether we can co-ordinate the strengths of our ecosystem fast enough to complete effectively internationally.

So, how do we repeat the magic here and make the UK a comparable global centre for innovation and growth? Of course, this not the first time that these questions have been asked. In 1963, Harold Wilson called for the “white heat” of science and technology to shape the UK’s future.

Scotland is leading the way in low carbon technologies, which is commendable. But we need to go further if we are to build a culture of true innovation, and in the process better compete with our peers.

The economic climate means there can be no attempt to just throw money at the problem. That said, innovation is one of the best ways to overcome economic decline. For this reason alone, innovation across all sectors is vitally important at this time. That means research and development.

Scotland has a proud history of innovation-led industry. Whilst budgets are tight we need to find innovative ways of doing more with less. We need to have deep connections between government and the private sector so that companies gain at the same time as they give, and are rewarded for their forward thinking in the form of long-term incentives. We should also take advantage of the resources we have on our doorstep. There is a huge amount of academic research that is difficult and costly for commercial organisations to find and tap into and therefore currently lies dormant.

Through the creation of a central register, academic institutions would be able to capture and share their innovative ideas and intellectual property. Under strict non-disclosure agreements, companies could then explore whether those ideas have any commercial value.

Once the relevant commercial agreements are in place, academia would benefit from new revenue streams and companies would benefit from new sources of commercially exploitable intellectual property. This could act as a catalyst for innovation in the private sector.

Although this initiative would not necessarily have an instant impact on our global recovery, it would put the foundations in place for sustained innovation and send the right message to academia, public and private sector organisations.

• Richard Copland, Logica principal innovation consultant.