- Midlands Innovation is a strategic research partnership of eight research intensive universities. Universities in the Midlands and the pan-regional growth body, the Midlands Engine, are piloting how universities can work together to attract foreign direct investment into regional research and development.
- HEPI’s report, The Role of Universities in Driving Overseas Investment into UK Research and Development, published on 7 March 2023, provides national analysis of what is happening. Here, Professor Aleks Subic, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Aston University writes as part of a series of blogs from Midlands Innovation on the key considerations for policy makers and the Higher Education sector on increasing investment into regional R&D through universities.
- Prior to his role leading Aston University, Professor Subic held senior leadership roles at RMIT and Swinburne University of Technology.
When creating the right ecosystem for foreign direct investment (FDI) in UK research and development (R&D) to thrive, we can learn from Australia’s experience, where I have worked at the interface between government, industry and academia. Here I set out the critical success factors in Australia, and how these might apply in the UK context.
1. Simplicity and clarity
The fragmented picture of actors involved in FDI at the policy and operational level in the UK is striking. A unique patchwork of central government departments, local, regional and pan-regional actors, university partnerships, as well as arms-length bodies such as growth companies and niche agencies, all play a role. While a collaborative mindset is beneficial, there is a risk that the sheer number of disparate actors involved hold investment and strategic partnership opportunities back.
In Australia, this sort of complexity is simply not an issue. Within a more devolved political ecosystem, state governments have a single front door approach whereby all international investment and trade inquiries are channelled via their respective investment office, for example, Invest Victoria.
At the federal level, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, Austrade, plays a coordinating role for the whole country. In both cases, universities are considered central to enable access to R&D facilities and a highly skilled workforce, which are essential to foreign investment in a knowledge-based economy.