Michael Kenward

There is much more to a nation's "brain power" than how much it spends on R&D and education. The OECD tries to assess the broader picture by looking at "Investment in knowledge".

Deloitte's web site has a special section of detailed analysis of the UK budget and its support for R&D.

The President of the European University Association warns universities to get their act together. Governments come in for some stick too.

The latest budget for the UK continued the Chancellor's role as puppetmaster for science and technology.

Who should benefit from the transfer of technology from the academic world into the business arena? The university that cooked up the ideas, or the company that turned them into money? How about society as a whole? An American Prof warns against micro managing the process.

If your business isn't in a technology cluster, you have every reason to feel an outsider.

Everyone sees MIT as a role model, especially the British government. But there are other successful exploiters of academic R&D.

Look out for more competition from Asia as Singapore turns on the pressure with its own increase in R&D spending.

The notion of grid computing is seeping out of the academic world into business applications.

Save energy, cool your seat.