UK uniquely placed to gain a competitive advantage

Local businesses and special guests enjoyed a lively debate discussing the role of the Technology Strategy Board and the opportunities for businesses in Milton Keynes at an event organised by Biztech, a leading technology forum in the city.
Guest speaker Dr. Maurizio Pilu, Lead Technologist for Digital at the Technology Strategy Board outlined the roles of the organisation with its goal of making the UK a global leader in innovation.
The audience learned that driving innovation was key to creating value, especially within advanced economies like the UK.
Dr Pilu acknowledged that in the past some businesses had struggled with securing investment, with it being either too little or too late.  However he highlighted that working across businesses, universities and government groups the Technology Strategy Board had invested over £750m in its first three years.

Funding was not the only mandate and that creating a more effective environment that supported innovative developments was vital, whether this was through leadership, engagement, or coordination of different stakeholders.
Dr Pilu continued that SME’s played a key role in this innovation process but stressed they needed to collaborate more to take advantages of their advances and identified that this required a “change in mindset” for some.
He also suggested that there was “systematic challenge” facing business and other bodies in how to monetise the information that they had available.
So what were some of the growth opportunities identified by the Technology Strategy Board?  Dr Pilu highlighted the value of connected devices across a variety of sectors, as well as the cost effectiveness of digital delivery of public services as key areas.
He summarised that as an early adopter of new technology and web applications the UK was uniquely placed to utilise this knowledge and gain a competitive advantage on a global stage.
Fredi Nonyelu Chair of Biztech was delighted with the debate following Dr Pilu’s presentation.  “We are delighted to welcome Dr Pilu to Milton Keynes and gain a better understanding of the vision at the Technology Strategy Board and opportunities through its various initiatives for businesses locally.
Throughout 2010 Biztech has provided a forum for local businesses to engage on topics on a local, regional and national level.  Our plans for 2011 are just as exciting and I look forward to sharing this dialogue with both old and new faces in the coming year.”