InnovationKT Conference Report
There are remarkable success stories to be told of the benefits of knowledge transfer, but few opportunities to publicise them. The first International Conference on 'Innovation through Knowledge Transfer: Research with Impact', InnovationKT'09, held at Hampton Court, Kingston upon Thames, UK on Wednesday 2nd December 2009, provided a rare and welcome opportunity to share some of the successes of knowledge transfer.
Organised jointly by the KES International knowledge transfer organisation and Kingston University in partnership with the Institute of Knowledge Transfer, the conference attracted over 150 delegates from academia, government and business.
The Honorary Chairs were Iain Gray, Chief Executive of the Technology Strategy Board, and Sir Brian Fender, Chair and President of the Institute of Knowledge Transfer. Sir Brian gave an invited talk entitled "Innovation and Knowledge Transfer: The Role of the Individual". A second invited talk was given by Dr Claire Graves, Head of Knowledge Transfer and Economic Impact at RCUK entitled "The RCUK’s Knowledge Transfer and Economic Impact Strategy".
The conference featured 42 oral presentations grouped into seven conference sessions. Two sessions were devoted to knowledge transfer project case studies. Other sessions described Knowledge Transfer Methodology and Practice, Strategic and Organisational Approaches to Knowledge Transfer, Innovative Knowledge Transfer Techniques, Knowledge Transfer in the Arts and Community and Innovation and Enterprise. Authors and delegates came from a range of countries including France, Germany, Finland, and Brazil as well as the UK, providing international participation.
The General Chair of the Conference, Bob Howlett, who is a visiting Professor in Enterprise at Bournemouth University and Executive Chair of the KES organisation, commented "There isn't another conference that gathers together such a tremendous range of knowledge transfer experience and expertise. The event has certainly been a success, and we have plans to continue the momentum with a conference series." He also has other plans for knowledge transfer publications, and continued "We have just agreed a KES book series with the publisher Springer-Verlag on 'Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies', which will cover the knowledge transfer area and I am also exploring ways of launching a peer-reviewed journal on the subject." He concluded "Of course a great deal of credit for the success of the first InnovationKT conference must go to the Local Arrangements Chair, Charlene Edwards, Head of Knowledge Transfer at Kingston University, and her team, who did a wonderful job of administering the event."
Conference Presentation Slides
Powerpoint presentations from InnovationKT'09 available .. here ..
InnovationKT'2010 in the West Midlands
Information available .. here ..