Last week’s poll: Commercialising technology in the UK

Sentiment regarding the UK's ability to commercialise technology was overwhelmingly negative, with nearly 85 per cent feeling the country is falling short in some respect. Just over 45 per cent believe that UK investors are primarily to blame, a culture of caution blocking the pathway from academic excellence to commercial success.

In a similar vein, 27.6 per cent said entrepreneurs need more support, while 12.1 per cent believe the shortcomings lie mostly with universities that struggle to identify and support technology with promise. In contrast, just 5 per cent of readers think that the UK has got its house in order and is in a position where innovation is now properly commercialised.

As ever, the commenters provided additional colour, pointing out exactly where they felt the UK was failing.

"A typical lack of application of innovations is the way that South Korea tied up the Patents on most graphene applications, before the UK even put pen to paper," wrote Sandy. "Invention of a method or material in a University is all very well, but all too often, the development into a saleable device is made abroad and the benefit is lost to the UK."