UK-Japan workshop on manufacturing and innovation policy
Japan and the UK are significant trade and investment partners and opportunities exist to strengthen the bi-lateral relationships post Brexit. To this end, efforts have been made recently to strengthen the dialogue between the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
Opportunities for bilateral collaboration go beyond trade, with particular interest in opportunities for learning and collaboration on industrial strategy and innovation policy.
Against this backdrop, the workshop focussed on policy challenges faced by policy makers in both Japan and the UK to foster innovation in advanced manufacturing. The programme was developed in collaboration with the Advanced Manufacturing Policy team at BEIS. Attendees included policy officials from Government departments and technology and innovation agencies in the UK and Japan.
Discussions focussed on three opportunity areas:
- Understanding future sources of value in established and emerging industries
Manufacturing systems increasingly cut across sectors and technologies. To compete effectively, national economies require innovation systems that can respond to emerging high-value market opportunities. How can policy makers understand future sources of value in established and emerging industries in order to inform policies? - Integrating SMEs into the national innovation system
Weak absorptive capabilities often prevent SMEs from fully benefiting from the national innovation system. Most SMEs do not have the time, capacity or funds to partner with universities or technology organisations. Unsuccessful investments greatly affect their financial performance and even jeopardise their survival. What policy practices and initiatives can help SMEs develop internal capabilities to be effectively integrated in the national innovation system? - Aligning national institutions for increased competitiveness and value capture
A range of institutions – from universities and national laboratories to intermediate R&D organisations and standard development bodies – play critical roles in supporting industrial innovation. The range of challenges they face is diverse: not only supporting the scale up of disruptive/emerging technologies but also promoting technology adoption, promoting cross-sectoral technology diffusion, as well as developing the skills base. How can national institutions more effectively be integrated to ensure increased industrial competitiveness and value capture?
For more information about this series of events, please contact us. To view more details about the participants and agenda of this workshop please click below.
