Clearview Midlands October 2013 - Issue 143 | Page 83

BUSINESSNEWS

MORE UNIVERSITIES MUST SHARE
RESEARCH WITH SMES
The outgoing President of
Europe’s largest engineering
body is calling for more
universities to give small and
medium sized businesses
open access to the intellectual
property (IP) that they create.
Professor Andy Hopper CBE is
making the plea as he prepares to
step down after his one-year term
as President of the Institution
of Engineering and Technology
(IET).

Andy said: “Tax payers are
already funding the creation of
innovative intellectual property
in our universities, so it seems
reasonable that more of this is
made available to UK SMEs that
are best positioned to add value
and commercialise it.
“Universities should be
encouraged and incentivised more
to kick start the development of
new technologies and products
by openly assigning the required

IP to dynamic British businesses
at minimal extra cost. In return,
maybe the university could get a
one or two per cent shareholding,
more of a goodwill gesture than
a conventional transaction. This
is all perfectly possible and is
happening in a number of UK
universities already.”
Professor Andy Hopper,
who heads up the University
of Cambridge Computer
Laboratory, believes this will be

a big boost for the engine room
of the UK economy, small and
medium sized enterprises. He
said: “With the success of so
much future policy based around
engineering and technology, I
believe that it is time for the
Government to draw more on the
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