Press Release

NORTHERN WAY REACTION TO TODAY’S INNOVATION WHITE PAPER

13 March 2008

Northern Way comment on the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) Innovation White Paper, entitled Innovation Matters, announced today.

The Northern Way today welcomed the emphasis placed on the North of England within the DIUS paper, entitled Innovation Matters, as an acknowledgement of the strength that the North has to offer. 

Sarah Jackson, Head of Innovation at The Northern Way, commented: "We see the DIUS paper as a welcome acknowledgement of the spatial element of innovation, and that businesses and other organisations in the North have a strong role in promoting innovation that drives forward the British economy."

The White Paper includes an acknowledgement of the work the Northern Way and northern Regional Development Agencies are doing to promote innovation in the North, and it refers to the examples of excellence in the North, including design innovation projects in the North East, the Manchester Cancer Research Centre, knowledge transfer activities in Liverpool and the Process Industries in the Tees Valley.

The Northern Way is also stepping up its work on innovation, including through a ground-breaking study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (for publication in Autumn 2008), and by working across the three regions to promote the transformation of the North’s economy.