Q-Factor General Quiz-7th April 2024, Quiz Club NITW
5. lawton smith oxfordshire ecosystem-rev
1. Oxfordshire: key drivers of an
entrepreneurial ecosystem
Helen Lawton Smith
Department of Management
Birkbeck, University of London
& Oxfordshire Economic Observatory, Oxford
University
Presentation at International Workshop
“Entrepreneurial ecosystems and growth-orientated
entrepreneurship
Ministry of Economics
The Hague
November 7 2013
2. Overview
• How do different actors in the Oxfordshire eco-system
make sense of the others’?
– Where do they fit into visions of entrepreneurial ecosystems look like,
how do they interact with their own?
• How can barriers and deficits in local entrepreneurial
regions be overcome by actors of different kinds?
– How are those interactions priced and paid for ?
4. Entrepreneurial ecosystems in
entrepreneurial regions
• ‘entrepreneurial regions are defined by growing
high levels of entrepreneurship and innovation,
and as regions with outstanding entrepreneurial
visions’ (EU, 2013).
• must also be places where there is co-ordinated
entrepreneurial activity to put those visions into
practice so that ecosystems function effectively.
• agency of research institutions, local government,
skills agencies and so on working together.
5. Oxfordshire’s entrepreneurial
ecosystem 1: high-tech environment
• 1,500 high tech firms employing 43,000. 13.4% of county
workforce, largest firms originated in University of Oxford
in 1950s and 1970s
– Key sectors: engineering, ICT, biotech, publishing
• Highly-skilled labour market
– Higher proportion of grads. than other English Counties
• 3 science parks, other business parks
• Strategic location, 40 miles from Heathrow and 50 miles
from London.
• Nice place to be (for employers and employees)
6. Oxfordshire’s entrepreneurial ecosystem 2:
science and technology-based assets
• Global brand, conveying an image of academic excellence
• Oxford University, with outstanding research and teaching,
and Oxford Brookes, one of the best performing new UK
universities
• Unique grouping of ‘big science’ and other research
facilities, including the UK Atomic Energy Authority
(UKAEA) Centre for Fusion Research; the Science and
Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Rutherford
Appleton Laboratory; Diamond Light Source, the UK’s
synchrotron facility; the Medical Research Council’s
facilities at Harwell, and the Satellite Applications
Catapult Centre
• High level military education at Shrivenham (Cranfield U).
7. What works in Oxfordshire’s entrepreneurial
ecosystem? 1. Skills
Entrepreneurship education
– Said Business School, Oxford University adds value
through entrepreneurship education.
– All programmes open to Oxford-based entrepreneurs and
high-tech companies as well as to university members.
The number of people being trained is rising steeply,
with over 3000 people attending an event each year.
Apprenticeships
– Training provided by government labs and Oxford U.
– Specialist motorsport training (+ degree level)
– New university technical college – vocational education
focusing on science and engineering
8. What works in Oxfordshire’s entrepreneurial
ecosystem?
2. Engagement of (some of) the research base
• Science Vale UK
– Harwell, Milton Park, two local district councils (Vale
of White Horse and South Oxfordshire), the
Oxfordshire Local Economic Partnership, Oxfordshire
County Council and the Science and Technology
Facilities Council (STFC) http://www.sciencevale.com/
• University science parks, proposed bioescalator
and University of Oxford’s plans for growth
9. What works in Oxfordshire’s entrepreneurial
ecosystem?
3. Local governance
City Deals (2012) (National Funding)
• intended to give participating areas ability to use funds better for
local needs such as training and skills, roads etc. Oxford and
Oxfordshire City Deal vision ‘to accelerate the growth of the
city region’s knowledge-based economy’
Regional Growth Fund (National Funding)
• 2.6 billion fund across England 2011 - 2016, which supports
projects and programmes that are using private-sector investment
to create economic growth and sustainable employment
Oxford and Oxfordshire Local Economic Partnership (LEP)
• Both universities represented at the Pro-Vice Chancellor level
– http://www.oxfordshirelep.org.uk/cms/
• BUT, limited effectiveness, lack of leadership, fragmentation of
effort, lack of funding
10. So what is not working in Oxfordshire’s
entrepreneurial ecosystem?
• Chronic shortage of early stage investment capital
+ intransigent banks
• Extensive national visa requirements for highlyskilled foreign workers.
• Lack of leadership from within Oxford University
in local systems of governance
• Linkages between University of Oxford and hightech firms are under developed.
11. Three key policy conclusions
1. Strong Public and Private sector leadership is essential
(Regions that lack strong leadership are at a disadvantage with
competitor locations in developing entrepreneurial ecosystems)
2. Funding needs to be secure in order to sustain local
entrepreneurial region’s ecosystems based on universityindustry-government collaborations.
(Understanding the incentives for university/college engagement )
3. Skills issues need identifying and addressing.
(Understanding student and alumni experience and mobility may be
the most useful step in understanding how entrepreneurial
ecosystems function).
Notes de l'éditeur
The Dutch higher educational system includes two types of universities: research universities (in Dutch: universiteiten) such as Utrecht University, and universities of applied sciences (in Dutch: hogescholen).
According to the law in the Netherlands each university has three different tasks: education, research and service to the community. This last aspect includes knowledge and technology transfer. The process of knowledge and technology transfer should bridge the gap between fundamental research (the core activity of a university and research institutes), applied research (the research that is tailor-made for industry) and society.
The University of Twente has been an actively supporting business development from the early 80’s: graduates entering the entrepreneurial path, start-up companies using UT-knowledge, and innovative, -small and large- regionally, nationally and internationally operating companies.
We have now reached a next stage, which is mainly about valorisation. The central question in valorisation is how (scientific) knowledge can be made to serve economic and social purposes at an accelerated rate, and how the gap between interesting academic knowledge and (technical) applications can be bridged. That’s exactly what our activities are about. To the outside world, this is visible for instance in projects like VentureLab and Kansrijk Eigen Baas, and previously the TOP arrangement –now executed by Kennispark Twente .
In the context of Kennispark Twente our emphasis has shifted to working together with relevant partners, such as municipal, regional and provincial authorities, as well as businesses, and other knowledge institutes, like Saxion University of Applied Sciences. We are also active on an international level, working with such bodies as the ICT Labs of the European Institute of Technology.
(whereby the ethos of entrepreneurship is embedded in a region’s firms, policy actors and research organisations.
governance is co-ordinated though a group of people or an organisation which draws in other key stakeholders. Sometimes universities may be the ROI in formulating a knowledge-based regional economic development strategy, for example SUNY Stoneybrook in New York State in the US and Linkoping in Sweden (Ektzowitz & Klofsten, 2005).
What matters in practice are the incentives for universities to engage in the application of a vision. It may be that they are active participants in some aspects of the vision where this relates to their own interests. It is also a given that leading research universities have local impacts whether or not they are formally part of an organisational structure.
Ektzowitz and Klofsten (2005) point out often that the university is part of a broader configuration of actors in a regional system of governance rather than an active local player. Premier universities, such as Oxbridge, contribute as centres of strategic science (Rip, 2002) to the ‘glocalisation’ of their regions, becoming internationally recognised attraction poles for research and commercial activities.
Clark, 1998; Etkzowitz, 1983)
Explicit in Witty review that universities should assume explicit responsibility for facilitating economic growth – partnering with local SMEs.
Includes cryogenics – largest cluster in Europe and motorsport e.g. Williams Grand Prix
The impact of each depends on the internal characteristics of the university, (ii) how the university responds to exogenous shocks (Feldman and Francis 2006), (iii) the nature of funding for higher education institutions which accompanies agenda-setting by national and regional political bodies in relation to wealth creation, (iv) the attributes of the regional economy (Varga 2001, Lendel 2010) – and how that region is defined.
is an exemplar of an entrepreneurial vision and of coordinated practice. This is a collaboration between Harwell, Milton Park (the largest business/science park in the county), two local district councils (Vale of White Horse and South Oxfordshire),] the Oxfordshire Local Economic Partnership, Oxfordshire County Council and the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) (see Lawton Smith & Glasson 2010). It provides a number of entrepreneurial resources. For example, the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL[NS1] ) has continued to expand in both basic science and in skills training, while the Harwell site and Milton Park provide major infrastructure assets.
The Science Vale UK initiative shows how policy involvement is being attracted to both private- and public-sector excellence and represents the potential of this scientific ‘regional triple helix space’. This potential is being reinforced by central government funding since its award in 2011 of Enterprise Zone status, under which businesses are eligible for a business rates discount of up to £55,000 a year for five years
the areas must demonstrate they have a strong plan for local growth.
