Royal Society to host Innovation Summit

Imperial College London and QinetiQ are among the organisers of a conference in London that seeks to chart the way that innovation can lead the economy out of recession and the credit crunch. It also tackles the controversial question of whether universities that focus on protecting intellectual property are helping or hindering the innovation process.

Entitled “Innovation Summit”, the conference takes place at the Royal Society in London on 8 December. It is aimed at strategy and policy leaders in government and industry, along with researchers active in innovation methodology and academics and business people seeking to maximise wealth creation from advances in science and technology.

Headline speakers include David Spittle, chairman of the UK Technology Strategy Board, and David Delpy, chief executive of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

The conference will include what are billed as “provocative” presentations from innovation researchers based at the UK Innovation Research Centre (a collaboration between the Centre for Business Research at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge and Imperial College Business School) and the University of North Carolina.

It will end with a panel debate on whether the narrow focus on the commercial exploitation of intellectual property generated in academic institutions is harming the development of vibrant innovations.

The conference is supported by Imperial College London Business School, QinetiQ, the Centre for Business Research at the University of Cambridge, the Innovation and Productivity Grand Challenge, the UK Innovation Research Centre and the University of Cambridge. For more information and to register, click here. The conference will be moderated by Science|Business CEO Richard L. Hudson.