Centre of IT Excellence for SMEs in the West Midlands, UK

2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 385-391
Author(s):  
Diana Thompson ◽  
Garry Homer

This paper presents an analysis of the IT Futures Centre, a European technology transfer project based at the University of Wolverhampton in the UK. After reviewing UK government policy in technology transfer, the authors highlight the project's two key elements – a new state-of-the-art building and an IT consultancy team – both of which are dedicated to providing advice, consultancy, training and demonstration facilities for small and medium-sized companies in the West Midlands region of England. The paper addresses the systems and methodology used for delivery and the quantitative data available which indicate the progress companies have made as a result of this intervention. Finally, issues that have arisen during the operation of the project to date are discussed, especially the problems that academics face in the delivery process.

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Savage

University spin-out companies are increasing seen as a favoured route for commercialisation of university intellectual property. There has been criticism in the Lambert Review of Business–University Collaboration in 2003, commissioned by the UK Government in 2003, that there have been too many spin-outs of low quality and that a measure of quality is the amount of external equity they attract. This has been refuted by Dr Williams of the University of Warwick technology transfer office. Oxford University has created 42 companies with no failures. The rigorous process involved in the creation of an Oxford spin-out is given in some detail. The author then goes on to discuss his experiences of other university spin-out models. Finally, some of the tax problems that caused universities across the UK to stop spinning-out companies recently are discussed. In conclusion despite the criticisms, the author believes the process of creating companies to commercialise university R & D is critical to the overall success of UK plc in the long term.


1999 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Blundell Jones ◽  
Alan Williams ◽  
Jo Lintonbon

In the UK, government policy has encouraged architecture schools to be more research active and there is pressure to make the two final years of the five year course more definitively postgraduate. The University of Sheffield has responded with an experiment that combines studio teaching with real research on the city and its history. Sheffield is Britain's fourth largest city with a population of around half a million. It grew very rapidly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, It now employs a fraction of the former labour force and the city is having to adjust its identity.


BMJ Open ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. e016713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Backman ◽  
Philip Weber ◽  
Alice M Turner ◽  
Mark Lee ◽  
Ian Litchfield

IntroductionThe numbers of patients with three or more chronic conditions (multimorbidity) are increasing, and will rise to 2.9 million by 2018 in the UK alone. Currently in the UK, conditions are mainly managed using over 250 sets of single-condition guidance, which has the potential to generate conflicting recommendations for lifestyle and concurrent medication for individual patients with more than one condition. To address some of these issues, we are developing a new computer-based tool to help manage these patients more effectively. For this tool to be applicable and relevant to current practice, we must first better understand how existing patients with multimorbidity are being managed, particularly relating to concerns over prescribing and potential polypharmacy.Methods and analysisUp to four secondary care centres, two community pharmacies and between four and eight primary care centres in the West Midlands will be recruited. Interviewees will be purposively sampled from these sites, up to a maximum of 30. In this mixed methods study, we will perform a dual framework analysis on the qualitative data; the first analysis will use the Theoretical Domains Framework to assess barriers and enablers for healthcare professionals around the management of multimorbid patients; the second analysis will use Normalisation Process Theory to understand how interventions are currently being successfully implemented in both settings. We will also extract quantitative anonymised patient data from primary care to determine the extent of polypharmacy currently present for patients with multimorbidity in the West Midlands.DiscussionWe aim to combine these data so that we can build a useful, fully implementable tool which addresses the barriers most amenable to change within both primary and secondary care contexts.Ethics and disseminationFavourable ethical approval has been granted by The University of Birmingham Research Ethics Committee (ERN_16–0074) on 17 May 2016. Our work will be disseminated through peer-reviewed literature, trade journals and conferences. We will also use the dedicated web page hosted by the University to serve as a central point of contact and as a repository of our findings. We aim to produce a minimum of three articles from this work to contribute to the international scientific literature.Protocol registration numberNIHR Clinical Research Network Portfolio Registration CPMS ID 30613.


1992 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 171-177
Author(s):  
Th. Gering ◽  
H. Schmied

The article begins by describing the components of a network of organizations involved in technology transfer in Technology Region Karlsruhe. The results of an international comparison carried out by University of Karlsruhe's Industrial Liaison Office into technology licensing in Germany, France, the UK and the USA are examined. It is concluded that, on the available evidence, European technology licensing offices perform no differently from their older US counterparts. The article does however point out a number of problems facing Europe, one of which is the non-exclusive licensing required by most government-sponsored research.


2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Hopkins

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight the local, national and global actions from the UK to reduce the impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) on human health. Design/methodology/approach – Synthesis of UK government policy, surveillance and research on AMR. Findings – Activities that are taking place by the UK government, public health and professional organisations are highlighted. Originality/value – This paper describes the development and areas for action of the UK AMR strategy. It highlights the many interventions that are being delivered to reduce antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistant infections.


1993 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 322-323
Author(s):  
A A Opaneye ◽  
E Parker ◽  
J Bailey ◽  
M Walzman ◽  
A A Wade
Keyword(s):  
The West ◽  

2005 ◽  
Vol 71 ◽  
pp. 63-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.T.O. Lang ◽  
D.H. Keen

The recognition over the last 20 years that the Quaternary deposits of the West Midlands cover a longer period of time than previously envisaged has led to a re-analysis of their contained Palaeolithic archaeology. Stone tools have been found in the region for over a hundred years and cover most periods of hominid colonisation from the time of the earliest occupants of the country over half a million years ago. Twentieth century research in the West Midlands, often led by Professor F. W. Shotton at the University of Birmingham, correlated the Palaeolithic of the region with the Quaternary geological sequence as it was then understood. Shotton identified the ‘Wolstonian’ glaciation as the key event of the Midlands Pleistocene, around which a chronology for the Palaeolithic could be built and gave an age of less than 250 kyr for this episode. Work since 1985 has compared the Midlands sequence with the oxygen isotope record of the ocean basins and shown that the concept of a relatively recent ‘Wolstonian’ is now untenable and that the former chronology built around it is too short for the observed events in the area. This new time paradigm, with the earliest occupation of the area thought to be c. 500 kyr, has made necessary a reconsideration of the chronology of the Palaeolithic and Middle Pleistocene of the area. This new time framework brings into critical focus the issue of reworking of the archaeology and its true age. The tools themselves present complications of analysis compared to many other areas containing a Palaeolithic record, perhaps most notably through the use of largely non-flint raw materials, some which may have been introduced into the area by early humans or an hither-to unidentified glacial event. This opportunity to present a new chronology of occupation comes out of the work carried out by the ‘Shotton Project’ based at the University of Birmingham, and by the University of Liverpool.


English Today ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-60
Author(s):  
Natalie Braber

West Midlands English: Birmingham and The Black Country forms part of the series Dialects of English which has so far included volumes on varieties such as: Urban North-Eastern English, Hong Kong English, Newfoundland and Labrador English, Irish English, Indian English, New Zealand English, Singapore English and Northern and Insular Scots. As such, it follows the general format of the series which covers the history and geography of a region, chapters on phonetics and phonology, grammar, lexis and a survey of previous works and bibliography. This contribution to the series follows this same general format and makes it applicable to the West Midlands region of the UK.


2001 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Nolan

The use of the term ‘family (informal) carer’, as it is currently conceptualized, is recent and is largely the product of increased attention in the academic and policy literature over the last two decades. Despite their fairly late arrival on the scene, family carers now occupy centre stage in UK government policy, having being described by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, as the ‘unsung heroes’ of British life, who are essential to the fabric and character of Britain. Such recognition stems from the growing realization that family carers are the lynchpin of community care, providing 80% of all the care needed at an estimated saving to the UK government of some £40 billion annually.


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