Millions for ideas

British companies are to be supported to develop products and services in diverse areas such as health, defence, transport and construction through a novel £100m government scheme.

Through the scheme, called the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), public-sector organisations will invite British companies to submit ideas and develop technologies, which the public-sector organisation could then buy to help improve public services.

Explaining the aim of the SBRI, its head, Mark Glover, said: 'There are lots of novel and exciting ideas out there and the SBRI enables the public sector to seek out these innovative ideas and then support turning them into commercial, viable products and services.

'Everyone benefits - the business develops a highly commercial and valuable new product, [while] the public-sector organisation finds a product that helps it solve a problem and meets its needs. And, of course, we all benefit from improved services,' he added.

A trial of the scheme was run by the Department of Health in 2008. Companies were invited to develop technologies and systems to improve hand hygiene, reducing the number of infections - such as MRSA - contracted in hospitals and doctors' surgeries.