Innovation in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

Innovation Prospectus

The Innovation Prospectus was completed in March 2011 and is a Cornwall Council vision on innovation and sets out key areas that can be addressed quickly in preparation for future plans.  It was prepared in partnership with key stakeholders and sets out the Council's view on the current innovation offer, and its plans for driving the innovation agenda forward in Cornwall.

In this economic environment where there is increasing pressure on businesses and the public sector to reduce costs whilst also remaining competitive in an increasingly global market, it is vital that Cornwall becomes more innovative.  It is essential for the continued growth of the Cornish economy that new technologies and ways of working are embraced and that innovation is integral to all we do.  The vision of this strategy is to create a culture of innovation in Cornwall, to help organisations and individuals to grow, increase productivity and maximise the opportunities available.

Please click here to view the prospectus.

The Current Innovation Landscape

Current European funding through the Convergence Programme for Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly has allowed the region to invest in innovation and key areas of growth. These investments address some of the historical issues as well as creating opportunities for the future.

'Introducing Cornwall' sets out the current economic picture and some of the data which is informing Cornwall & the Isles of Scilly in the planning for the Post 2013 funding and our Smart Specialisation Strategy. Following this, there are details of the major investments that have been made to increase innovation and improve the opportunities for businesses. Finally, this document looks briefly to the future and Smart Specialisation.

Please click here to view the document.

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership Strategy

The LEP Strategy to 2020 has now been developed which sets out our strategic direction.  This has been developed through consultation with businesses and an extensive data and evidence base exercise.  This has produced four key priorities:

1. Inspiring businesses to achieve their national and global potential
2. Creating value out of knowledge
3. Creating great careers here
4. Using the natural environment responsibly as a key economic asset

Smart Specialisation

Smart Specialisation is a European Commission initiative asking areas to look at where they can have a competitive advantage in order to grow the local economy.  This could be in specific sectoral or project areas and must be supported by a strong evidence base.

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are currently developing a Smart Specialisation Framework. Led by Cornwall Council and the Isles of Scilly Council in partnership with key stakeholders, we are currently compiling the evidence base for potential specialist areas as well as consulting with key partners such as the Universities and College's, key delivery partners, those who have benefited from Convergence and those who have been unable to engage with the programme.

This work has produced an initial draft of priority areas for both the next European Programme and for the Smart Specialisation Framework. The draft framework will be available to inform our Post 2013 plans.

The Smart Specialisation Framework will focus on a small number of headline specialist areas whilst also looking at areas where we are unable to be world-leading at this time but have knowledge and expertise that we can contribute and share with other regions.

Contact and Next Steps

The next steps will be to finalise the draft priority areas for the next European funding programme including the Smart Specialisation Framework. 

For all questions relating to innovation and the Smart Specialisation Framework in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, please contact .