Scoping the demand for national & international innovation data

Building on our work to deliver the Liverpool City Region Science and Innovation Audit (SIA), we were commissioned by the UK Smart Specialisation Hub, to scope the demand for perspectives on innovation data at national and international levels. There were three drivers for the work:

• The experience from Round 1 and 2 SIA consortia, who had experienced difficulties consistently in accessing UK and international-level data on innovation activity and performance.
• The need for the UK to expand its international trade activities as BREXIT approaches. A key aspect in achieving this effectively is to understand how innovative UK businesses and their economies perform relative to their counterparts overseas. Access to appropriate innovation data at an international level is core to understanding this position.
• In a post–EU world, thinking through how the European Commission’s Smart Specialisation model might be progressed in the UK’s new context.

The work comprised three phases. First, the team held extended telephone interviews with 20 selected representatives from Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) and other groups involved in developing SIA submissions (both as Expressions of Interest, and/or as full Audits).

These results then allowed the team to set out how the Smart Specialisation Hub might repurpose its activities and functions considering the more international stance UK plc needs to take post-BREXIT. The final phase consisted of the production of a formal report and recommendations to our client.