Government unveils new £200m technology centres

The government has announced funding of more than £200m in a network of new technology and innovation centres to support high-tech companies. 

Unveiled in a speech by David Cameron at the Confederation of British Industry conference on Tuesday, the centres will aim to "bridge the gap between universities and businesses, helping to commercialise the outputs of Britain's world-class research base".

The new bodies, the number of which has not been confirmed, will be based on the model proposed in reports released earlier this year by entrepreneur and investor Dr Hermann Hauser and Sir James Dyson, the creator of the Dyson vacuum cleaner brand.

Businesses accessing the centres will receive equipment, expertise and funding to support their technologies. Each one will focus on a specific technology where there is a potentially large global market and a significant UK capability. Areas identified as possibilities by Hermann Hauser included plastic electronics, regenerative medicine and high value manufacturing.

The network will be established and overseen by the Technology Strategy Board, a non-governmental public body which promotes and supports research into technology and innovation. The government has promised that the centres will have a "high degree of autonomy so they can respond to business needs".