Review into Technology Adoption for Growth Innovation and Productivity

A letter to Dr Dave Smith and Dame Angela McLean.

In summary, we recommended:

• Due to the broad scope of the review, concerns were raised that the three components are not facing the same challenges but are being addressed as a collective. Each component should be addressed individually as well as holistically, particularly as they will need to be tackled cross-departmentally.
  
  
• Start-up companies and those who are looking to scale-up face different challenges, and it is important not to conflate the two.
  
  
• Pathways for growth are critical to success and Catapults can play an important role in this through signposting, translation and via early technology readiness maturation.
  
  
• There is a clear gap in the ecosystem regarding development and adoption. It is important that information is not lost between development and use of a product, otherwise it becomes less effective and a poor investment.
  
  
• Further work should be done to foster an entrepreneurial approach to innovation, particularly at early career stages.
  
  
• Finally, getting fundamental components such as smooth system thinking and data management right is critical to productivity yet is often overlooked for investment.