WEDNESDAY 16 DECEMBER 1998

MR ROBERT FOSTER, MR PETER BUNN and DR ALISTAIR KEDDIE

  900.  And other disciplines?
  (Mr Foster) I do not know a great deal about the Royal Society of Chemistry scheme. What we are told is that it has been pretty successful in stimulating the sort of networks you refer to. I mentioned a whole series of things where we are trying to encourage knowledge networks through Reach Out Funds, through Faradays and so forth, which should have the effect of technological transfer and other transfer in other areas. I do not think it is the case that any one particular idea is something which would necessarily be right for all sectors. This has clearly worked quite well in this area and the White Paper sets out a whole range of initiatives for other areas which will obviously include the engineering sector and the Reach Out Fund will apply to it.

  901.  Are you suggesting that these innovative arrangements should be driven by the profession and not necessarily by the Department?
  (Mr Foster) Let us take an example. In the case of the Faraday Institute involving Pera, the one I referred to in Loughborough, that in a sense is not driven by the Department. The proposal came from Pera and the university, they came forward with the proposal and in that case the research council funded it and in the future we will be funding that type of activity. So we are not driving it in that sense, we have a framework which we can fund and we will then monitor it. So what we would hope is that there will be others rather like that one I mentioned. Pera is obviously pretty helpful in the engineering sector, and no doubt there will be others coming forward; I am sure there will be a mass of them which will be coming forward with this Reach Out money.

  902.  NESTA. Is it still important for industrial contacts? You played a part in setting it up; do you think it has any more room in it or is it just there and that is it? What do you think the future of it is? Will it be useful?
  (Mr Foster) It is going into its next phase. It is progressing. As far as we are concerned we are having discussions with the people organising it and it could be something we want to go on backing into the future, we will have to see how it develops. In principle it is an excellent idea.

  903.  So you are open to receive offers on it, are you?
  (Mr Foster) Inevitably all I can say at this stage is that we are in contact, it is too early to say whether we should fund it, but it is progressing well. It is a good sort of idea.
  (Dr Keddie) Could I add to that, perhaps coming back to Mrs Curtis-Thomas' question as well? Some of the most effective initiatives are where they actually come from the organisations themselves, rather than us as a department trying to drive them. We need to look at, can we add value to what they are doing and maybe occasionally do some funding, maybe through some other means. As Mr Foster said, we look at it on a case-by-case basis and there are some very innovative, very good approaches emerging.

  Chairman: I am being scuppered. The last exchange was meant to be between Dr Gibson and Mr Foster; it is now going to be Dr Kumar and Dr Keddie!

  904.  Just quickly, a thought which came from Dr Gibson's question. Do you support the Academy of Inventors, this idea being floated by Trevor Baylis and others? It is the NESTA question which provoked that in my mind.
  (Mr Foster) We have had a lot of discussion with Trevor Baylis and others who are lone inventors. Obviously what we have initially said is that the prime focus has been to get what has been called NESTA going, which is this new organisation which the Department of Culture, Media and Sport has been running but which we have been influencing, trying to make sure that there are people with a strong interest in science and technology on the board of it, including representation of the individual inventor field. We will have to see what sort of funding comes out of that into this area. We have obviously encouraged Trevor Baylis and others, and there are other people who have some very interesting ideas for academies and so forth, to get together and to see to what extent NESTA initially can fulfil that vision. If it cannot, we will have to have a further look at it.

  905.  Thank you very much indeed. I think we will finish there. I do thank you, Mr Foster, Dr Keddie and Mr Bunn, for giving up time this afternoon to be with us. You have been giving evidence for very nearly an hour and three quarters; it has been a long session. We have learnt a very great deal from you and we shall of course learn more from you indirectly when we read more carefully this report. We thank you for your contribution to our inquiry which is, of course, running parallel with all that you have been doing and we hope that we might have just one or two ideas when we come to produce this report which will be of interest to you. Once again, may I thank you. This is our last session before Christmas and we resume again in the New Year, so I take this opportunity of wishing you and your families and indeed my Committee and Committee staff a very happy Christmas and a peaceful and healthy New Year.
  (Mr Foster) Thank you very much, Chairman.