Foyles

Business secretary Lord Mandelson has undertaken a fact-finding mission in Germany to investigate how the UK can become more innovative.

Lord Mandelson looked at how Britain can learn from the success of the German innovation network, known as the Fraunhofer model, to develop and commercialise new technologies.

The system uses a network of technology and innovation centres to link the academic sector with industry and identify how new developments can be turned into marketable products.

'I have always said that Britain is a land of inventors and innovators. I am proud of how well we create and design items, but I want to ensure we translate all our achievements into money-makers and ultimately jobs,' the secretary of state commented.

Lord Mandelson added that Germany is considered to be a world leader in innovation and he is looking forward to seeing how the UK can benefit from learning from its success.

He also revealed that he has commissioned technology entrepreneur Hermann Hauser to examine how innovation centres could be rolled out across the UK.

Last month, the government announced that a new UK life sciences super cluster will be formed to support the development of cutting-edge medical technologies.