26 July 2006
Universities enhance competitiveness and quality of life in the UK
Universities and colleges are doing even more to improve the competitiveness of the country's economy, and to contribute to society and quality of life, figures published today reveal.
The fifth annual Higher education-business and community interaction (HE-BCI) survey report (HEFCE 2006/25) published jointly by the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), shows improvement across a broad range of indicators of economic and social contribution. The survey reveals that:
the total activity of the sector in delivering 'knowledge exchange' can be valued at around £2 billion in 2003-04, around £1 billion of which was delivered through contract and collaborative research for business to develop new knowledge and innovative applications
there has been a 198% increase in the number of licenses and options granted
90 per cent of UK HEIs have a dedicated enquiry point for small businesses, an increase of 7 per cent since 2000-01, and more than £18 million was spent by small companies on professional training provided by UK HEIs
higher education has been able to provide greater support for urban and regional regeneration through over £200 million of regeneration grants from the European Union and Regional Development Agencies received in 2003-04. This represents an increase of 47 per cent from 2002-03.
Science and Innovation Minister, Lord Sainsbury, said:
'The HE-BCI survey plays an important role in helping to measure the success in transferring knowledge from the research base to business and other users, and in assessing our performance against the commitments made in the Ten Year Science and Innovation Investment Framework. I am pleased to see that overall we are seeing a steadily increasing contribution by our universities to the economy of the country.'
Higher Education Minister, Bill Rammell said:
'This year's HE-BCI survey provides yet more evidence of the growing importance of colleges and universities to the UK economy. We should no longer think in terms of universities simply carrying out research under contract to business, but should also acknowledge the role that they are playing in expanding our national skills base and the many other ways in which they are engaging with their local and regional communities.'
Diversity of business
The survey highlights the diversity of types of business and social enterprises that HE helps. Universities and colleges work to improve the productivity of both small and large businesses, which may be marketing globally, nationally - or contributing to the enterprise of regions, cities or neighbourhoods. It also helps public services, as well as social enterprises and not-for-profit organisations, to improve the quality of people's lives as well as the vitality of communities.
There is national evidence for the first time of the significant time dedicated by UK HE academics to contributing to society through engaging people in debate about the world they live in, by, for example, investing over 10,000 days in providing free public lectures. The survey also highlights the contribution of HE to making the UK a more entrepreneurial nation. For example, UK HEIs report over 1,000 active 'spin-off' companies employing 15,000 people with turnover of nearly £450 million. Nearly 600 new companies were established in 2003-04 by recent graduates from UK universities.
Universities generate revenue from knowledge exchange work. Income from the exploitation of intellectual property (IP) has increased along with the amount spent on protecting it in Europe and the rest of the world. The UK HE sector generated over £38 million from IP exploitation, with around £15 million spent on protection of IP. The UK HE sector held over 5,700 active patents in 2003-04 and granted over 2,000 licenses for third parties to use knowledge and technologies.
Selected data from the 2003-04 HE-BCI survey
| Knowledge transfer indicator | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | Change 2003-04 over 2002-03 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of licenses and options executed | 728 | 614 | 758 | 2,256 | +198% |
| Gross income from IP (£M) | 18 | 47 | 37 | 38 | +1% |
| Number of spin-outs (wholly or partially owned) see Note 5 | 248 | 213 | 197 | 167 | -15% |
| Contract research income from business (£M) | 259 | 328 | 289 | 287 | -1% |
| Consultancy income (£M) | 104 | 122 | 168 | 211 | +25% |
| Number of new UK patent applications see Note 3 | 896 | 960 | 1,222 | 1,308 | +7% |
| Number of UK patents granted | 234 | 198 | 377 | 463 | +23% |
| Collaborative research income (£M) | 447 | 495 | 491 | 541 | +10% |
| An enquiry point for SMEs (% of UK HEIs) | 83% | 85% | 89% | 90% | +1% |
| Regeneration income (£M) | 129 | 134 | 150 | 216 | +44% |
| Facilities and equipment related services income (£M) | 28 | 53 | 68 | 80 | +18% |
| HEIs providing distance learning for business | 52% | 52% | 66% | 66% | 0% |
| HEIs providing short bespoke courses on companies premises | 62% | 67% | 78% | 80% | +3% |
| Business representative on governing bodies (%) | 34 | 36 | 34 | 34 | 0% |
| Full-time equivalent staff dedicated to engaging with commercial partners | 1,529 | 1,836 | 2,283 | 2,706 | +19% |
Support for knowledge exchange
Data from the HE-BCI report has been used to inform directly the allocation of over £160 million of support for knowledge exchange between HEIs, business and the wider community under the third round of the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF 3). For the first time this year, the HE-BCI survey includes data for individual institutions (available as Annex H of the online version of the report).
Rama Thirunamachandran, HEFCE Director for Research and Knowledge Transfer, said:
'This survey demonstrates the range and scale of higher education's contribution to the economy and society. The wide variety of indicators show that HE is making rapid progress in creating wealth through innovation and knowledge transfer and also creating jobs in the economy. Universities are making services more effective and helping employees to develop the skills to be more productive in a more challenging global economy. But it is also beginning to tell us more about the social, civic and cultural contributions. I am struck by the way that HE can empower people as citizens, encourage them to be more enterprising - and help them understand and engage with an increasingly complex world.'
Notes
1. This report was produced by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) on behalf of several stakeholders within Government including the DTI, and Department for Education and Skills.
2. All UK HEIs were included in the survey, giving a highly representative indication of the whole sector.
3. Patents are only one way of protecting certain types of IP, more information is available at www.patent.gov.uk.
4. 133 HEIs in England have received between £200,000 and £3 million from HEIF 3.
5. A 'spin-off' is an enterprise that has one or more of the following attributes:
- an HEI or HEI employee(s) possess equity stakes
- it has been created by the HEI
- it has been set up by HEI employees to enable the commercial exploitation of knowledge arising from academic research.
The fall in spin-outs could be attributed to HEIs strategically preferring the licensing of intellectual property which has correspondingly seen a large growth. The UK appears to be following the same pattern as in the US.
6. Due to developments in the annual survey process, not all indicators can be compared over four years. Those provided in the table above are sufficiently robust to form a trend.