Innovation South - a Powerhouse of World Class Strengths in Digital Enabling Technologies
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
INNOVATION SOUTH - A POWERHOUSE OF WORLD CLASS STRENGTHS IN DIGITAL ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES A SCIENCE AND INNOVATION AUDIT REPORT SPONSORED BY THE DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY REPORT 2017 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Message from Dr Mike Short, CBE FREng FIET, Chair, Innovaton South Strategic Steering Group, VP Telefónica This report is sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and produced on behalf of Innovaton South, a consortum of over 120 private and public organisatons from across Dorset, East & West Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Surrey, and the Thames Valley (see Annex D). The consortum’s ongoing endorsement of this Science and Innovaton Audit is most appreciated. The report was primarily authored with the invaluable support and expertise of members of the Innovation South Strategic Steering Group (see below) and its Advisory group (see Annex D), to whom I am most grateful, and thank them for their time and dedication. Many thanks as well to Christine Doel and Ross Gill of SQW who expertly helped us make sense of a vast amount of evidence received and information gathered. Thanks also to staf at Technopolis for their support and guidance as we navigated the process. During the preparaton of this report around 200 people from business, academia and public services across the region atended workshops and/or submited writen evidence. Their contributons have been extremely valuable and highly appreciated. Finally, I would like to thank Sue Litlemore as Project Manager and Editor, Lucy Crabtree for her support and unfailing organisatonal skills, and the Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership for its excellent leadership in the delivery of this substantal project. STRATEGIC STEERING GROUP MEMBERS Sue Litlemore, Higher Educaton Project Manager, Enterprise M3 LEP Chair: Dr Mike Short, Vice President Public Afairs, Hema Marshall, Head of Country Digitsaton & Telefonica Europe Skills, Cisco UK Mat Albans, Service Design Manager, BAE Systems Colin McKinnon, CEO, Insttute for Environmental Carole Barron, Director of Innovaton & Enterprise, Analytcs University of Kent Prof. Paul Nightngale, Professor of Strategy, Science Ross Burton, Stakeholder Engagement Manager, Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Smart Specialisaton Hub Mel Redding, Director, Jumelia Ltd. Lorna Carver/Rob Dunford, Director/Interim Prof. Nick Reed, Academy Director, Transport Director, Dorset LEP Research Laboratory Prof. Dave Cooper, Professor of Management and Keith Robson, Chief Operatng Ofcer, 5G Innovaton Economic Development, University of Chichester Centre, University of Surrey Sarah Duckering, Director of Research and Iain Shepherd, Chair, Marine South East Ltd. & Chair, Innovaton Services, University of Portsmouth Natonal Oceanography Centre Advisory Council Kevin Forshaw, Associate Director, Enterprise and Prof. Peter J S Smith, Director, Insttute for Life Research Impact, Natonal Oceanography Centre Sciences, University of Southampton David Gillham, Director, Thames Valley Science Park Prof. Mark Spearing, Vice President (Research and Prof. Paul Hogg, Vice Principal and Dean of Science, Enterprise), University of Southampton Royal Holloway University of London Chris Ward, Head of Space R&D, Airbus UK Dr Daryl Landeg CPhys FInstP, Chief Technologist, AWE FOREWORD A number of recurrent themes were raised by businesses during the preparaton of this report. Innovaton South is A high tech innovatve digital economy relies on a spearheading the UK’s digital good supply of high tech, highly specialised digital revoluton. From beter health talent. Fresh thinking on both stmulatng that care to safer transport and supply at home and maintaining access to talent from adventurous immersive abroad was a repeated demand. Other frequently technologies to the design identfed barriers to innovaton and improved of super fast racing yachts, productvity were the relatvely high cost and Innovaton South is a limited availability of housing in the region, and the substantal region at the forefront of advances in need to enhance the efciency of transport links to digital innovatons that are constantly improving our London, west-east connectons across the region daily lives. and the ease of connecton and transit to/from major air/sea ports. Spanning eight countes outside the M25, and across some of England’s most beautful areas of The auditng process has brought together business countryside and coastline, Innovaton South is not people, entrepreneurs and academics, many of only a very signifcant contributor to the whole of whom had never met before, and enabled them to the UK economy, it is also a superb place to live and focus clearly on how Innovaton South really can be work. powerfully greater than the sum of its parts. This Science & Innovaton Audit, sponsored by BEIS, As the UK and Innovaton South face future is a tmely and valuable opportunity to highlight challenges and opportunites, there is a pressing the outstanding strengths of Innovaton South in need and a strong ambiton to contnue and digital enabling technologies and the applicaton of extend levels of region-wide collaboraton initated those technologies to make advances in several key during this Audit. That ambiton, refected in the sectors in the South: Digital, Biosciences, Marine & recommendatons at the end of this report, must be maritme and Advanced Engineering. realised in order to unlock the vast commercial and exportng potental in the region’s economy. Close to London and Heathrow, this is a high performing region. The economic output of It is Digital Enabling Technologies that are Innovaton South is close, in scale, to that of the key drivers in advances in entertainment, Denmark. Exports and foreign investments are communicatons, health, marine operatons and strong; much of the workforce is highly skilled; transport. That is undisputed. More uncertain a dynamic stock of businesses, from huge is which countries will capitalise on these multnatonals to entrepreneurial scale ups, opportunites. Innovaton South is poised to deploy are working with the region’s richly diverse and its outstanding expertse in partnerships with other excellent universites to turn world class science in regions to help ensure the naton which takes the digital technologies into innovatve products and lead in those advances is the UK. services that will compete in global markets. This report demonstrates Innovaton South is a Dr Mike Short CBE FREng FIET, VP Telefónica & region in a good positon to face challenges ahead. Chair, Innovaton South Strategic Steering Group It also highlights opportunites that must be grasped if Innovaton South is to maintain and enhance its valuable place as a regional success, and a major supporter to the broader UK economy, for London and beyond. CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...............................................................................................................................................i 1. INTRODUCTION - INNOVATION SOUTH: A WORLD LEADER IN THE SCIENCE AND COMMERCIAL APPLICATION OF DIGITAL ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES...................................................................................................................................................1 What are “Digital Enabling Technologies”?....................................................................................................3 2. INNOVATION SOUTH – ENGLAND’S GLOBAL REGION ...................................................................................................4 Introducton ..................................................................................................................................................5 Productvity, business and innovaton in the South .............................................................................. .......6 Looking Forward .........................................................................................................................................14 3. SCIENCE AND INNOVATION STRENGTHS IN DIGITAL ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES................................................................15 Introducton ................................................................................................................................................15 Innovaton South’s science and innovaton strengths in Digital Enabling Technologies................ ..............17 Digital communicatons ..............................................................................................................................17 Cyber security ............................................................................................................................................20 Big data analytcs ........................................................................................................................................22 Photonics ....................................................................................................................................................24 Quantum ....................................................................................................................................................26 Research excellence in Digital Enabling Technologies goes deep & wide .................................................27 The commercialisaton of Digital Enabling Technologies ...........................................................................28 4. APPLYING DIGITAL ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES – IN “CONNECTED DIGITAL”...................................................................32