Next steps

A number of established global corporations are represented in the modern UK device industries, and are supported by a large, vibrant and diverse community of technology-intensive SMEs. The technology Strategy Board will work to further a business framework that allows these players to work together to the best advantage for the UK economy as a whole and will particularly target the EPES sector with existing and new vehicles that are most accessible to SME involvement.

Planning of the knowledge and material supply chain to maximise value, and networking to establish the contacts to realise it, are crucial to success of innovative businesses within a global market.

Partnership and collaboration with other branches of government and with major stakeholder groups in industry, is essential in a sector lacking natural focal points.

The Technology Strategy Board's EPES team works with the Research Councils to ensure alignment of Science and Technology development strategies, with the Department of Business, Enterprise and regulatory Reform (BERR) on the business and regulatory environment, with the Regional Development Agencies and the Devolved Administrations to coordinate national and regional policy and investment, with UKTI to encourage inward investment and to attract and protect value in the UK, and with other government departments to investigate technology synergies and sector collisions.

The Technology Strategy Board will also work within Europe to represent UK interests by steering the EU research agenda of the ICT and Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, Materials and Production (NMP) parts if of the Framework Programme 7 [link] and will ensure that EU funding complements national programmes, where the ARTEMIS Joint Technology Initiative and Photonics21 European Technology Platform are of particular interest.

The industry sector also provides its own voices in the form of the Electronics Leadership Council and the Photonics Leadership Group, and the Technology Strategy Board will work with these, linking up the technology and innovation agenda with those of industry leaders, Trade Associations, Skills Councils and others.

The former Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) published its Electronics and Photonics strategy in April 2006 and within the Technology Strategy Board the Key Technology Area has been expanded to include a new area of Electrical Systems. The themes originally emphasised by DTI still remain as priorities in the current UK strategy. From 2004 to 2007 these areas attracted £79million of funding through the Technology Programme, to which a further £35million of Collaborative R&D grants has been allocated through the first TSB competition in November 2007. A total of 105 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships have also been granted in EPES.