Logica urges UK businesses to address the innovation opportunity
Calls made for the creation of a knowledge-sharing register to help private and public sector organisations fulfil the promise of UK academic research
Business decision makers throughout UK industry believe that other nations have advanced beyond the UK in terms of their ability to foster innovation, according to new research published by Logica, a business and technology service company. Nearly half of respondents believe that British organisations are less successful in generating innovative ideas in comparison to the US, while 42 per cent rate UK plc as being less innovative than the BRIC nations.
A factor leading this trend is the extent to which businesses have deprioritised fostering a culture of innovation within their organisation. Thirty eight per cent of respondent do not consider their senior leadership teams to treat innovation as a business priority. The majority (58 per cent) believe that a tension exists between short-term financial priorities and the longer-term benefits of innovation, considering innovation to be a distraction to the organisation.
The research findings identify a number of ‘black spots’ where sparks of inspiration are not acted upon, with organisations not collaborating to drive innovation or making the most of ideas. Only nine per cent of organisations polled look to collaborate with universities in the name of developing inventive thinking and research, while 39 per cent of respondents from the public sector believe that their organisation does not successfully exploit the ideas that it generates.
Stimulating a culture of innovation
In response to the research, Logica has issued a call for two tangible measures which would encourage the sharing and development of innovative ideas:
- The creation of a register which allows academic institutions to capture and share their innovative ideas and intellectual property. Companies will be able to access the register, under a strict non-disclosure agreement. This will allow them to explore whether there is any intellectual property available within universities which they could use, then develop commercial agreements with the respective university ‘owners’.
- The introduction of a policy where public sector contracts are awarded to companies which demonstrate Open Innovation and a collaborative approach with small businesses and academia within its approach to delivery. This should be supported by a charter outlining the innovation and collaborative mechanisms which government contractors should meet, in order to ensure that the taxpayer achieves the best value from its contractors and that the benefits from innovation within the public sector are stimulated and structured.
Craig Boundy, CEO of Logica UK, said: “We strongly believe that collaboration is the cornerstone of innovation however, as many as 50 per cent of organisations are sceptical or closed to the concept of ‘open innovation’. Innovation cannot thrive in a closed box, but this is the way industry has traditionally worked with ideas being kept in-house and developments patented and protected by law.”
“Very few organisations have the resources to innovate effectively on their own, but at the moment, it is virtually impossible to browse and commercially access intellectual property and existing research. The UK needs to reclaim our position as the global hub of innovation and we believe that by instilling a greater sense of collaboration throughout UK companies, we can collectively address this trend.”
Professor Anthony Finkelstein, Dean of the Engineering Sciences Faculty, University College London said: “Universities are a motor for innovation but the problem is they don’t have the capacity to support open-ended exploration and the development of relationships with enterprises. What universities need to do is work with companies for long periods of time to really get under their skin – the project mentality is a true enemy of innovation. What is also really worrying is how the rise in university fees will affect those undertaking master degrees, which are largely self-funded. This will have a huge impact on science and engineering lead courses in particular and ultimately on innovation in the UK.”
Simon Clayden, Chief Business Architect, AXA UK, said: “What we are bad at in the UK is the execution of ideas. These issues are cultural not structural or financial. We are really good at generating ideas but poor at implementing them. We only seem to collaborate when things go wrong – what we need to do is bring organisations and academia together way in advance to tackle issues before they happen.”
About Logica
Logica is a business and technology service company, employing 41,000 people. It provides business consulting, systems integration and outsourcing to clients around the world, including many of Europe's largest businesses. Logica creates value for clients by successfully integrating people, business and technology. It is committed to long term collaboration, applying insight to create innovative answers to clients’ business needs.
Logica is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and Euronext (Amsterdam) (LSE: LOG; Euronext: LOG).
More information is available at www.logica.com.
The company is a public company incorporated and domiciled in the UK. The address of its registered office is 250 Brook Drive, Green Park, Reading RG2 6UA, United Kingdom.
Press contacts
Jenny Thorpe – UK PR Manager – Jenny.thorpe@logica.com
