RIST Group meeting

[Richard Halkett]

On Wednesday, I was invited to make a presentation on the Index to the regular gathering of Regional Innovation, Science and Technology (RIST) leads for the RDAs and Devolved Governments. The meeting was held here at NESTA.

The meeting was very useful, focusing primarily on the practicality of the Index and its usefulness to policymakers. We were encouraged to move the concept of innovation 'out of the too difficult' box. There was a readiness to accept the compromise that would be inherent in developing something useful - in aggregating data, grouping sectors. The focus should be on producing something meaningful - with the baseline being recognised as the current R&D Scoreboard (see http://www.innovation.gov.uk/rd_scoreboard/).

The group were very clear on a few matters:

1. The importance of using accessible language that business could relate to.

2. The necessity for an early (if imperfect) deliverable that people could challenge and get their teeth into.

3. The need to use the data as a way into telling a more complex story - numbers alone would only get us so far.