This is joined up thinking like never before. These ideas will be easy to provision outside the confines of EU regulation. Key drivers include the use of technology to improve efficiency, secondly a world-leading open data project, thirdly a move away from bureaucratic processes that take too long and are too costly. Fourthly, an easy to use web-based Portal for investment and profit distribution that will entice many investors to back these new innovation businesses.

A New Business Structure

A new type of business is required. The current structures; limited company; not for profit; quoted; and AIM provisions, are either too complex, take too long to create or do not provide the essential provisions for innovation and good governance. We need to create a modern model that works for everyone. It will lead the way in creating a new vehicle for innovation that will be the envy of the world.

We start with defining a new business structure for innovation companies.  This provides for the following:

• The basic structure is one of openness and co-operation
• Stated aims of innovation within specific sector(s)
• Directors do not hold overall control. The innovation bank along with special advisors, (from a relevant investment company), make up the voting rights
• Investors may also vote on key issues set by the board, or where there is a call for a vote if more than (40%) of the shareholders require it
• Shareholders all have just one vote
• Ensures tight guidelines on finance and reporting using (a few) essential key performance indicators
• A sensible cap on senior pay rates
• Built-in profit share for directors, all employees and shareholders
• Shareholders rights provide for openness, strict financial and other controls and reporting (no large shareholders)
• Once the company reaches a threshold size, directors must rotate and cannot return within a specified period

Further to this structure these new type of businesses will have leveraged access to innovation and other services:

• Quick, easy, low cost company setup
• Immediate access to finance (bank and share capital)
• Preferential tax rates
• Fast tracked for government contracts
• Fast tracked for specialist services and help (see below)

This new company structure provides immense benefits for the whole society. It provides not just innovation, but an ongoing business competitiveness. With sensible profit sharing and unparalleled governance it provides the ability for the average saver to become part of the next generation of new technology businesses, and share directly in the ongoing profits. By safeguarding the governance and assets within a new structure, it provides for UK long-term innovation success, where the profits are returned to the people of the UK for the long run. CST would consider this a win, win, win!

Fast Track Processes:

• Export licenses
• Export finance
• Export marketing (via CST’s country based provisions ideas)
• Patents, licensing etc
• Guaranteed purchases (for supply chains)
• EU marking and other essential product quality and export services

 

Creation of an Open Data Structure for the UK

• Encrypted, distributed, logged (blockchain / distributed ledgers)
  
  
• A new independent body, with the trustees allocated from a blind selection of potential candidates put forward from other independent organisations.  These trustees to rotate on an agreed basis (3 or 5 years maximum)
  
  
• Clear terms of reference; To create and maintain a publically owned, secure yet open data platform for the benefit of the whole UK.

• Cloud data storage locations designed to provide data integrity, uptime, quick access, strong oversight and top level physical security

• Provision of data in standardised (encrypted) format to allow sharing for all applications.  This standard is immensely important as it will define the ongoing world-wide standard for data provision and sharing

• Data security level ensure access only to the necessary level of data for that application.  These are set by the holder of the information under strict rules and using an effective checking system.

• As all transactions of data are held within the distributed ledgers with public and private keys, the data and transactions are immutable.

Phased Implementation:

This must not be a government lead project.  It should go to tender to UK organisations that have shown the ability to deliver on time, leading, highly technical solutions.  Oversight should include experienced people from research, business and consultancies that conduct these types of large, complex projects.  It may be necessary to attach key personnel from the likes of Deep Mind, Google or Amazon (under a strong NDA) to make sure that the technical aspects are not going awry as some of the technologies are very new and they need to scale.

The costs are unimportant.  What is important is the efficiency of delivery – both for time and value.  The effectiveness must be as good as practically possible.  The protect costs are unimportant because this system will literally make or break the UK’s ability to compete. 

The UK spent £500Bn in preventing a banking meltdown ten years ago, no one asked if it was worth it because there was no choice.  The successful delivery of this open data structure is also exactly the same -  we have no choice.

Phase One:

• Review similar leading technologies used by Google, Facebook, Amazon, Deep Mind etc.
• Create a framework for a data structure and database with distributed ledger systems
• Test this framework on a large distributed data system
• Scale this up and re-test under various load scenarios
• Test the data across existing applications and new applications
• Line up the best experts and security hijackers and ask them to break the whole system, then mend it.

Phase Two:

• Roll out to world leading data centres (cloud storage)
• Re-test for speed, security and effectiveness
• Start with low key live data provision for non sensitive applications using publicly available apps such as traffic applications, learning applications, public data applications.
• Review the effectiveness of the data provision with application use

Phase Three:

• Select key businesses and research agencies to build a public facing portal for applications using their commercial data
• Create the new innovation portal based on the use of this data provision
• Put forward a public offering to allow people to access and use the public portal with existing public data, commercial data (where offered).
• Allow the public to use this data system for their own (cloud) storage via easy to use commercial apps
• Allow selected new innovation businesses to access the full data set
• Allow businesses to store and use their own and their current customer data (under standard data protection rules) for the provision of new applications.
• Allow public to agree access to their personally sensitive data for their chosen applications
• Start moving government and local government applications across to utilise this new data provision.
• Role out the full data provision to all new innovation businesses
  Finalise the innovation portal driven by this new data provision

The first innovation businesses may be invited to create the web-based infrastructure for the innovation portal plus new joined-up government and local government portals.   The NHS may also be a core provider of applications and data, with a view to moving their whole data provision to this new system.

The low key approach to personal data – as and when individuals wish to get involved – means that the public concerns over centralised data are minimised.  As the project is seen to be secure and offers improved personal efficiencies (such as purchasing and banking, internet of things and many other joined-up applications), more and more people will choose to use this system.

New Online Portal: 

Key Points:

• New nationwide innovation banking structure (eg Labour's new National Bank or CST’s Building Society banking structure)
• Web based accounting and reporting system.  This would be as automatic a possible with and include all processes from purchasing through to sales, including a standard webshop.
• Investment purchase and sales system. (The IG Group has an excellent web and app based system – they work and provide all the essential provisions required, as a UK company perhaps these can be licensed?). 
• Active investment in these new buinesses requires an intermediary to improve liquidity for transactions. This can be handled by the new nationwide innovation bank. This allows for online buying and selling of by individuals and investment companies, (no shorting allowed).
• Included within this buying & selling system would be the formal feedback and news service for each company (cf. IG Index news and profiles).
• Share holdings would have provision for profit sharing, (tax free for individuals).  The rest of the profits would not be distributable.
• Takeovers would be controlled by a UK innovation panel and only allowed in the interests of ongoing improvement in innovation. These companies would not be able to be bought by non-domicile UK businesses.
• Investment by individuals could have a maximum guaranty - eg percentage in the pound, that protects a proportion of the of the investment if a company fails. This guaranty would come from a small levy on the profits of other innovation companies.

Close collaboration for innovation and for stem subjects:

• Direct links to research Universities and Research centres with tight integrations
• A sponsoring University
• Direct sponsorship and link to apprenticeships
• Direct links to all FE’s for stem students
• Collaboration between innovation companies (with a mandatory sign up to enable unfettered access to innovation ideas and research with a strong nda for all company people)

Accountability & Fast Track Provisions

Special provisions to enable innovation and success while providing for excellent accountability:

• If performance slips below set accounting or other thresholds, then directors can be replaced immediately.
• Banking with nationwide innovation bank at preferential rates (immediate funding)
• Fast track apprenticeships, fast track top stem individuals from universities and FE’s on special introduction schemes, fast track MSc and doctorates linked to these organisations – built in innovation linkage, for instance each business has a sponsorship directly with a research university
• Built-in access to special innovation think tanks – specialist from all areas – provide regular discussion and input to each business.
• Nationwide innovation bank guarantees payments for purchasers (eg via webshop)

 

Joined-up Innovation Implementation – creating tight coupling for innovation excellence

Direct coupling is essential between businesses with research, universities, colleges, apprenticeships and all other education establishments.   The creation of STEM understanding for all young people is also a continuing requirement and will have massive long-term results.

Key Implementation Provision for Tight Coupling:

• Research universities and bodies will directly assist within these new innovation businesses. 
• Depending upon the nature of the sector and technology, one or more innovation champions will be assigned to each business from specific universities or research units. 
• These champions will be mandated to exchange ideas enabling cross-fertilisation between technologies and businesses.
• Research grants for each business will provide for research with collaboration in mind. 

All research will be monitored by the innovation investment portal team along with the champions with full disclosure of progress, whilst protecting the IP of the research to within the innovation businesses.

Infrastructure Required:

Access to innovation testing services for implementation testing.  These need to cover energy, transport, smart home, fintec, communication systems, etc, etc.  This maybe provided via an integrated centre that has the size and complexity to create relevant output, (even perhaps a new innovation village).

 

Education, Training and Jobs:

There are already innovation hubs across the UK.  These must be ramped-up to engage every school, every college, all apprenticeship schemes and every young person in the UK. 

The aim is to deliver the importance and opportunities regarding STEM subjects.  This must be achieved with impact.  Direct liaison with the innovation businesses will provide internships, placements, apprenticeships and full time jobs for our young people. 

This involvement for students must be pro-actively managed with local hubs creating projects and awards for all students to engage in conducting STEM based project.  These should be managed by the innovation business people and collaboration champions.


Fast Track Education:

Many businesses find that young people do not have relevant skills.  This uplift in skills can be achieved quickly and cost effectively.

A new fast track training process is required to provide a good level of STEM and core business understanding for school leavers and graduates.  This will provide a substantial new stream of talent for innovation companies.  

This fast track system will be designed to deliver core training within a course of just a few weeks.  This course will be configured to provide employers with the precise skill they require.  It must be based on practical learning projects, with people from a business background providing role-play to ensure realism and effectiveness.

Technology Solutions for Education and Skills transfer:

There is poor use of available solutions for delivering and monitoring education and skills.  While the MOOC’s use good technology, most teachers and lecturers are poorly equipped to lever these new ways of delivering educational concepts.  Worse still is the concentration on facts rather than on conceptual issues, key learning points and critical thinking.

As part of the overall drive to create innovation, we must use the new data processes and innovation businesses to create and develop superb new systems that produce much better educational outputs and deliver automatic evaluation of student progress.  The MOOC’s have shown the way forward, we must build on this methodology and create stunning, immersive learning environments that capture students imagination along with developing their interest and creative thinking ability.  VR and augmented technologies are also becoming available for use within education, the UK has one of the strongest gaming sectors and yet we have not found a way to apply this significant resource to help educate our young people.

The first Innovation Businesses can be tasked in creating new online, VR and augmented formats for STEM subjects.  These can then be rolled out across UK educational establishments using the new open data platform.  The Innovation Portal will provide these businesses with investment funding – who wouldn’t want to invest in our young people’s education – and become an investor in a world leading educational provider using the most up to date technologies.?

Other Ideas to help improve innovation

These dovetail into this new innovation business structure:-

• A release of experienced workforce to these business org's – retired people on a future earning system (either, and or, based on profit share, increased future retirement), allows access to this workforce via the admin systems (national bank), effectively free workforce for several years to help kick start these innovation companies.
• What are the numbers of available people here?  What are their relevant skill sets?
• How many would make themselves available?
• Allocate from profits (or small share levy?) a pot of money for very small start up’s.  These would be assessed and regulated by successful investment organisations for similar start-up businesses.  This allows immediate start-up potential for especially younger innovators, releasing UK's talented young people to further improve UK based innovation.

 

New Structures for Integrated Innovation

With Brexit looming how does Britain leverage the new freedoms?  CST believes there is an integrated answer that delivers massive innovation prospects for the UK. This revolves around the creation of a new type of company structure, a new open data structure that is completley independent. These work together using modern web based supporting systems and are directly coupled to Innovation Champions from research centres & Universities, leveraging all the UK's strengths to create long-term world leading innovation businesses.