UK, CHINA SHARE THINKING ON INNOVATION POLICY

[Begins] CHINA is named as a priority country for innovation collaboration initiatives in a new UK blueprint for national innovation development.

The aim of the new UK strategy  ? set out in a government white paper called Innovation Nation ? is to create a nation in which innovation flourishes across every area of the economy and at every level of society. Achieving that, says the white paper, will require continued engagement with the emerging economies of China, Brazil and India.

In a foreword to the strategy, John Denham, the UK’s Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, says: “Innovation will be the key to some of the biggest challenges facing our society, like global warming and sustainable development. We need to ensure that Britain contributes to the innovative solutions.”

A Chinese language version of the UK strategy was released formally today [19 May 2008] at the Pujiang Innovation Forum in Shanghai. Addressing delegates, British Embassy Science and Innovation Counsellor David Concar said: “China and the UK are both prioritising on how to create innovation-oriented societies. There is an exciting opportunity to share thinking and learn from each other.” 

The UK strategy takes a wide view of innovation. Its key messages include:

-Demand and markets are key drivers of innovation

-Traditional measures of innovation should expand to enable countries to measure innovation in areas such as services, design and marketing

-Government has an important role to play in stimulating the flow of new ideas into both businesses and the public sector

In line with the new innovation strategy, the UK has created a new public body to take forward many key initiatives aimed at bringing together companies, academia and other key actors in the UK’s innovation system, The new body, or Technology Strategy Board, will have an annual budget of around £1bn (RMB14bn).

英中共享创新政策观念

在英国新的国家创新发展蓝图中，中国被列为优先进行创新合作活动的国家。

如政府白皮书“创新国家”中所述，英国制定的新战略的目的，是在经济各领域和社会各层次内建立起一个创新型繁荣发展的国家。白皮书中提到，要达到这个目标，就要继续和中国、巴西、印度等经济正在崛起的国家合作。

在战略的前言中，英国创新、大学和技能部国务大臣约翰•德纳姆说：“创新将是解决我们社会所面临的一些重大挑战的关键，如全球变暖和可持续发展。我们要保证英国能为创新解决方案做出贡献。”

中文版的英国战略也于2008年5月19日在上海浦江创新论坛正式发布。英国驻华大使馆科技创新参赞康大卫在向代表致辞时说：“在如何创建以创新为导向的社会中，中英都是走在前列的国家。本届论坛提供了一个令人高兴的机会，可以让我们分享观念，相互学习。”

英国战略从广泛的视角阐述了创新，其所传达的主要信息有：

-需求和市场是创新的主要驱动力。

-传统的测评创新的方法要扩展到使国家能够对服务、设计和营销等领域内的创新进行测评。

-在鼓励商业和公共部门注入新创意方面，政府扮演着重要角色。

本着这一新的创新战略保持一致，英国建立起一个新的政府部门来实施众多重要行动方案，旨在将企业界、学术界和英国创新体系中的其他各界联合在一起。这一新部门，也就是技术战略委员会，每年的预算将会达到10亿英镑（折合140亿人民币）左右