[Blog] Delivering impact in an expertise economy (1)

• As we have moved from manufacturing to services and now an information economy, the role of research - and how impact from research can be delivered - has changed. • The experiences of a small group of industrial sectors, at a particular point in time, generated a way of thinking about the economic value of research that sees it as a linear process where research generates discoveries that, in turn, can be applied by research users to generate impact. The growing complexity of modern innovation and government services mean that this linear model is increasingly misleading. • In a modern information economy, innovation in the underlying processes that enable the provision of services is growing in importance. This innovation is research intensive but is too complex to be based on the transfer of discoveries. Instead, impact is more likely to come from the transfer of talented people and collaborative engagement that builds shared stocks of expertise. These deeper stocks of expertise help individuals and organisations make better decisions in a complex and uncertain world. • These two blogs explain why this kind of collaboration is important and how it can enhance collective expertise and generate impact.