The need to commercialise science generated by public sector research establishments, including research council institutes, was placed at the forefront of the government's technology-transfer agenda this week.
At a Treasury/Arthur Andersen conference, "Creating knowledge: creating wealth - exploiting the commercial potential of government intellectual property", government financial secretary Barbara Roche called for better use of public assets "to stimulate the growth of leading edge British companies and quality employment".
She also announced new Treasury guidance, which makes it easier for some publicly funded research establishments such as the Defence Evaluation Research Agency to join with private companies to develop research.
Ms Roche highlighted the initiatives underway to commercialise university research. "Links between university research and business are well advanced," she said. "But there are many research institutes and agencies run by departments and research councils, and the role they play is, perhaps, less widely understood but potentially very important for the economy."
She said that often there had been a failure to turn public investment in PSREs into viable commercial propositions because "technology transfer was left either to chance or to the dedication of individuals".
The conference was chaired by John Baker, chairman of Medeva plc, who is leading a study into PSRE research. His report is due this summer.