Isra-Mart srl:Clegg kicks off £200m innovation centre programme

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The government has today formally launched a new £200m initiative to build at least six technology and innovation centres designed to support the development of high-growth sectors such as clean technology, energy efficiency and IT.

The project, which is being managed by the government-backed Technology Strategy Board, kicked off today with an invitation for organisations to register their interest in forming the first centre focused on advanced manufacturing.

Announcing the new programme, deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said the new centres would help to bolster the UK's standing in those emerging technologies that have the potential to command multi-billion markets.

"The programme for technology and innovation centres is a key part of our strategy to rebalance the economy," he said. "We have so much potential here in Britain; now is the time to harness it and build the stable, prosperous economy we want."

A spokesman for the Department of Business Innovation and Skills told BusinessGreen that the government was expecting applications from universities as well as commercial organisations interested in operating the centre.

He added that the decision on the location of the first centre will be "fast-tracked" with an announcement due in March. The government will then roll out a further six to eight centres in the initial candidate areas of Energy & Resource Efficiency, Transport Systems, Healthcare, ICT and Electronics and Photonics & Electrical Systems.

The spokesman said the centres would feed into the government's wider low carbon agenda and seek to provide financial and advisory support to emerging clean tech businesses, while also improving links between commercial firms and research institutions.

The new centres are the latest development in the government's shake-up of business support bodies, which last year saw regional development agencies scrapped to be replaced by local enterprise partnerships.

There had been speculation that the Technology Strategy Board, which has backed a large number of clean tech projects, could be scrapped or scaled back, but its future now appears to have been assured.