The West Midlands and Outer Space

Dr Chloe Billing explores what recent funding provided by the government to the University of Birmingham and its partners for space hubs will mean for the West Midlands. “Space is a means to various ends and not an end in itself.” Dr Chloe Billing Fifty-one years after the successful lunar landing by the U.S. Apollo … Continue reading “The West Midlands and Outer Space”

Economic Aspects of the COVID-19 Crisis in the UK: DELVE Report No. 5

Dr Chloe Billing looks into the importance of high-quality data and the impact having access to this can have on influencing decision making and policy. By way of example, she looks at the impact the recent DELVE report has had on supply chains and intraregional inequalities. On the 14th August, the DELVE initiative released their … Continue reading “Economic Aspects of the COVID-19 Crisis in the UK: DELVE Report No. 5”

Policy Briefing – Economic Recovery Post COVID-19: The MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (REAP)

In this policy briefing, Dr Chloe Billing, on behalf of the West Midlands MIT REAP team, discusses the development and analysis of a set of indicators to assess the capability to support Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the West Midlands region. In March 2020, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) launched a pilot in the UK … Continue reading “Policy Briefing – Economic Recovery Post COVID-19: The MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (REAP)”

Commercialisation of University Research as a Pathway to Regional Growth

Welcome to REDI-Updates. REDI-Updates is a bi-annual publication which will get behind the data and translate it into understandable terms. WM REDI staff and guest contributors will discuss various topics, with this first publication focusing on how inclusive growth can be a tool to tackle regional imbalances across the UK. In this article, Dr Chloe Billing … Continue reading “Commercialisation of University Research as a Pathway to Regional Growth”

Economic Recovery Post COVID-19: The MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (REAP)

Dr Chloe Billing discusses the goals and objectives of MIT’s Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme, the aims of its pilot programme in the UK and what the MIT REAP West Midlands is doing to help the region recover from COVID-19.   In March 2020, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) launched a pilot in the UK … Continue reading “Economic Recovery Post COVID-19: The MIT Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration Programme (REAP)”

Research and Development (R&D) Roadmap

Dr Chloe Billing explores the Research and Development opportunities available to the West Midlands, the different funding strands for these and how the region can make the most of them. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a time of uncertainty and posed significant challenges to research and innovation in the UK. This was discussed in my … Continue reading “Research and Development (R&D) Roadmap”

Why is the West Midlands Attractive to Private R&D Investments but Not Government Funding?

Last week, NESTA launched a report on government spending on R&D and regions. The report was written by Tom Forth (Open Data Institute Leeds) and Richard Jones (University of Manchester) and was commissioned to present analysis on where and how R&D (public and private sector) is distributed across the UK. This blog pulls out key … Continue reading “Why is the West Midlands Attractive to Private R&D Investments but Not Government Funding?”

The Impact of COVID-19 on Firm Innovation: The Case of the West Midlands

In this blog, Dr Chloe Billing explores the impact of COVID-19 on innovation activities in the West Midlands. A full range of business support measures has been made available to UK businesses to help with the current COVID-19 crisis. These were discussed in a recent blog by Professor Raquel Ortega Argiles and include the Coronavirus … Continue reading “The Impact of COVID-19 on Firm Innovation: The Case of the West Midlands”

The Long-Term Impact of Homeworking Arising From the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Crisis

The ‘Legoland discovery centre’ replica of Birmingham City Centre has had thousands of mini-figures removed to reflect the city’s empty streets, as the COVID-19 crisis means that millions are asked to stay at home. The abandoned City Centre scene reflects how 1 in 3 of all businesses have closed under the COVID-19 regulation (1 in … Continue reading “The Long-Term Impact of Homeworking Arising From the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Crisis”

Regional Productivity Differences, Skills and Inclusive Growth: Survey Findings

The UK lags behind most advanced economies in terms of the productivity of its firms. There are also significant inter-regional differences in productivity across the UK, which are an important component of overall poor performance. The UK is also one of the most unequal countries, compared to other industrialised competitors, in terms of regional differences … Continue reading “Regional Productivity Differences, Skills and Inclusive Growth: Survey Findings”