DESIGN INDUSTRY CHALLENGES UNIVERSITY INNOVATION CENTRES
Britain’s universities are being encouraged to form partnerships with some of the world’s best strategic design innovation experts by national design organisation British Design Innovation (BDI).
The organisation represents many of the most qualified product, service, innovative 3D packaging, digital and brand designers in the world, and claims that public sector design and innovation centres are in danger of missing the opportunity of working alongside the commercial design industry’s top talent.
BDI outlines the partnership opportunities for universities in a government-commissioned report published today. Delivering the Innovation Dream: The BDI Report calls for the university sector to more fully engage with the UK’s world-class strategic design talent in a robust, coherent strategic relationship.
BDI represents the top 15 per cent of the UK’s strategic design firms, who generate a collective turnover of approximately £200 million per year. In January one of their member companies, Priestman Goode, won a contract from China to design the world’s fastest train for the new Beijing-to-Shanghai high speed rail line.
“BDI’s strategic designers are engaged by the world’s largest global brand owners to progress their product, service and brand development contracts as design and innovation experts contracted as senior consultants in strategic advisory positions,” said Maxine Horn, the organisation’s chief executive.
“However, many publicly-recognisable brand-name clients insist that the strategic design companies, who create, develop and commercialise their products and brands remain undisclosed for reasons of commercial confidentiality.
“This means that many university product design and innovation centres are not even aware of the incredibly talented strategic designers available to help commercialise their discoveries,” she said.
Strategic Design is the application of design principles to increase an organisation’s innovative and competitive qualities through the analysis of trends and data, which enables design decisions to be based on facts rather than aesthetics or intuition. As such it is regarded as an effective way to bridge innovation, research, management and design.
“I firmly believe our report’s recommendations can transform the relationship between our university design and innovation centres and top private sector design companies,” said Horn. “It would create an ongoing profitable partnership for all the parties concerned – not least UK Plc.”
The BDI Report, which reviews the relationship between the government’s innovation strategy, the strategic design industry and universities in the UK, was commissioned by HM Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS).
Read or download The BDI Report at: http://www.britishdesigninnovation.org/new/dd/images/reports/35_The_BDI_Report.pdf
Or log on to www.britishdesigninnovation.org and click on ‘Innovation Reports’.
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EDITOR’S NOTES:
1 – Contact: Maxine J Horn, CEO
British Design Innovation, 9 Pavilion Parade, Brighton BN2 1RA
Tel: + 44 (0) 1273 621 378 Mob: 07803 297 150
maxine@britishdesigninnovation.org www.britishdesigninnovation.org
2 –Delivering the Innovation Dream: The BDI Report was delivered to HM Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) on Wednesday 18 March 2009. The report was commissioned by DIUS in November 2008 after representations by BDI to discuss causes of concern to member companies.
3 – What is Strategic Design?
Strategic Design is the application of design principles in order to increase an organisation’s innovative and competitive qualities. Its foundations lie in the analysis of external and internal trends and data, which enables design decisions to be made on the basis of facts rather than aesthetics or intuition. As such it is regarded as an effective way to bridge innovation, research, management and design.
4 – About British Design Innovation
Founded in 1993, British Design Innovation (BDI) is the representative voice to industry of established strategic designers and is the most influential membership cooperative of its kind in the UK.
BDI represents many of the most qualified top-end product, service, innovative 3D packaging and high-end digital and brand designers in the world, each with in excess of 10 years experience in sectors such as aeronautics, biotechnology, nanotechnology, consumer electronics, food and drink, medical, telecommunications and transport.
Financed by its members and managed by 30 regional board directors, BDI’s member companies collectively generate over £200 million in turnover and comprise the top 15% of strategic design firms adding most value to industry.
BDI represents over £4.5 billion of industry sector turnover and an average £1 billion of export income1, and facilitates accumulative industry-wide activity worth over £100 million per annum. The organisation promotes collaborative innovation strategies, open innovation challenges, knowledge transfer partnerships, shared-risk-and-reward investment initiatives and strategic partnerships at local, regional, national and international level.
BDI’s website – the national database for the UK commercial design industry – receives 1.5 million visitors annually and comprises a secure portal for evaluating ideas, trading IP and identifying business partners online. www.britishdesigninnovation.org
BDI’s Newswire delivers design and innovation news to 30,000 self-subscribed e-mail subscribers every month free of charge, and reaches an additional 70,000 world-wide online visitors every month.
 Download the attached PDF
Submitted: 24 Mar 2009
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