Printable electronics innovation centre CPI has welcomed Lord Mandelson's announcement last week of a network of technology centres to commercialise university and commercial research.
Mandelson's statement followed a review by entrepreneur and venture capitalist Dr Herman Hauser into The Current and Future Role of Technology and Innovation Centres (TICs) in the UK.
CPI - Centre for Process Innovation - is one of the UK's main TICs and includes Sedgefield-based PETEC, the UK's centre for industrialising plastic and printed electronics.
"The UK has an excellent reputation for science and technology research, but it can be significantly better at turning those initial laboratory stage developments into viable economic processes and products that provide jobs and prosperity for the country and protect our manufacturing sector," said Graham Hillier, director of strategy at CPI. "Dr Hauser has provided a sound analysis of the way forward for the UK and presents a set of strong and sensible recommendations."
He added: "The challenge now is ensuring that the TICs receive the support they need to gain critical mass, so they are able to deliver effective support to the organisations who will access their facilities and expertise,"
CPI and PETEC, both based in the North East of England, were singled out in the Hauser report for their success in establishing collaborative partnerships with universities to develop specific technologies and also for establishing 11 new businesses and filing 14 patents since its establishment.