Creating opportunities from uncertainty: navigating industrial emergence

Industrial Symposium: 24th and 25th September 2009, Downing College, Cambridge, UK

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Background to the Symposium

Organised by the University of Cambridge Centre for Technology Management, this annual two day Symposium, now in its fifteenth year, is a firm fixture for those at the forefront of new ideas and practical application in the field. Aimed principally at an audience of senior technology and innovation managers from companies of all sizes, it draws on leading practice and research to address the current key issues in an international context.

This year's theme

Creating opportunities from uncertainty: Navigating industrial emergence

Current business conditions are characterised by great economic uncertainty, whilst technological development continues apace. In the midst of this turmoil, far-sighted enterprises continue to look for new opportunities grow their business, and identify the areas of future profitable activity. Even in this turbulent context, new companies are starting out, and new industries are emerging.

The Symposium will explore the issues underpinning this emergence, drawing on examples from leading organisations around the world, working in a variety of sectors. Aspects covered will include the commercialisation of new science and technology, investment, regulation, design, business start-up and supply networks. The issues that underpin successful navigation of such periods of transition will be a key focus of the event.

The programme will also draw on current research at the Institute for Manufacturing, under the Emerging Industries Programme. This will provide the latest insights from industrial, academic and governmental perspectives, and examine how collaboration between these bodies can enhance the identification and commercial exploitation of the opportunities that do exist.

Examples will also be drawn from the work of other major EPSRC programmes: the Regenerative Medicine (REMEDI) and Innovation and Productivity Grand Challenges, and the CIKC Molecular and Macromolecular Materials project at Cambridge. The Symposium aims to highlight the key lessons that can guide managers, policy makers and researchers through these challenging times.