Universities' STEM Assets: Commercial & Non-Commercial Pathways & Aggregate Impacts

This project maps the region’s university infrastructure, focusing specifically on STEM assets, and compares the commercial and non-commercial impacts of the assets, identifying any social/environmental/economic trade-offs.

There are two key phases of this project. The first is to map the region’s university infrastructure, focusing specifically on STEM assets. Examples include (i) Warwick Manufacturing Group; (ii) the Manufacturing Technology Centre; (iii) High-Temperature Research Centre; (iv) Tyseley Energy Park; (v) University of Birmingham’s Life Science Park; and (vi) SteamHouse.

The project will work to identify the size, scale, employment, turnover, and growth of each of these assets, in direct and indirect terms using proxy measures and multipliers. The second phase of the project is to compare the commercial and non-commercial impacts of the assets, identifying any social/environmental/economic trade-offs. Examples of non-commercial impacts are healthcare interventions, public sector and social innovations. This impact analysis will help identify different forms of regional economic growth that can be attributed to university-related investments. The aim is then to model what the impact would be if the assets did not exist, as well as, estimating the regional impact of the adoption and diffusion of specific commercial and non-commercial innovations in the pipeline.

WMREDI

Research Theme 3

Regional Innovation Ecosystem

Objectives

The project will work to identify the size, scale, employment, turnover, and growth of STEM assets, in direct and indirect terms using proxy measures and multipliers. STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematic) assets could be specific technologies that the universities have developed or research centres / hubs. Examples include (i) Warwick Manufacturing Group; (ii) the Manufacturing Technology Centre; (iii) High-Temperature Research Centre; (iv) Tyseley Energy Park; (v) University of Birmingham’s Life Science Park; and (vi) SteamHouse.
Compare the commercial and non-commercial impacts of the assets, identifying any social/environmental/economic trade-offs. Examples of non-commercial impacts are healthcare interventions, public sector and social innovations. This impact analysis will help identify different forms of regional economic growth that can be attributed to university-related investments.
Model what the impact [aggregate effects (macro-extension) would be if the assets did not exist, as well as, estimating the regional impact of the adoption and diffusion of specific commercial and non-commercial innovations in the pipeline.
Identify the factors that constrain the innovation/productivity growth of these STEM assets and to what extent they are region or university specific