UKSPA VISION & MISSION
Embracing change
Jim Duvall, UKSPA Executive Director, hits the ground running and invests UKSPA resource into the fourth industrial revolution
T
he first quarter of 2018 has seen significant change at UKSPA. In January we said farewell to Paul Wright who decided to stand down as UKSPA CEO, after 16 years in post. We wish Paul the very best in his retirement. Following my own appointment as Executive Director, I have met up with our members across the UK, from Plymouth, Bristol and Exeter to Leeds, Newcastle and Glasgow. Our Affiliate network of business members also provide increasing opportunities to deliver added value to the work of UKSPA and discussions are continuing with a number of our business members about partnerships in key areas of activity. Please do contact the UKSPA office if you would like details of current and future sponsorship and partnership opportunities.
SECTOR ADVOCACY
Our members will continue to be at the heart of everything we do. As an association, our key message to members is rooted in the ongoing need for collaboration between member organisations, across sectors and beyond national and international borders. Communication, intelligence and data flow are set to be the foundation of the UK government’s Industrial Strategy. Local Industry Strategy models must link national priority programmes with sector deals and regional planning. To accomplish this within a rapidly evolving digital economy, we must focus on driving growth and stimulating innovation. We must communicate and cooperate towards upskilling our current talent pool and boosting collaborative strengths in education, communications, financial and business services to enable
those specialists that drive the core of our individual science or technology research programmes to do their jobs. Discussions are underway with other national organisations that share UKSPA’s ambitions to support and promote the science and innovation sector through joint working projects that deliver value to our members. We will also gather evidence to support our advocacy of the sector. To succeed in this, we shall ask for your full cooperation in the near future. Our next gathering takes place at Lincoln Science and Innovation Park, 7-8 June. Alongside sessions sharing good practice, there will be two panel sessions covering key sector issues and an open discussion on investment trends. ■
Please do not hesitate to contact me: info@ukspa.org.uk
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