Constant innovation is key to success:Industry is application focused and mission orientated

摘要

In a world where constant innovation is recognised as a key contributor to business success, it seems strange that there is an ongoing science-media debate about the way that industry innovation relates to the underlying research base in the universities and research institutes.I say strange because in the food production sector this debate was done and dusted 30 years ago when Margaret Thatcher slashed public funding for 'near market' research in the sector and created a fracture with long-term implications for the flow of research into practice.