The talk New Challenges in Innovation took place on 23 March 2006 and was a great success. Professor Howard Rush and Dr David Francis gave a very interesting and dynamic presentation, which encouraged the audience to participate with pertinent questions and comments, promoting a useful exchange of experiences between Brazil and the United Kingdom.

The lectures from the University of Brighton ran the weekend workshop on 25 and 26 March for the FINEP Innovation Award Winners of 2005. As one of the sponsors of this programme, the British Council offered an exclusive workshop for the winners. The participants found that the event was an excellent opportunity for them not only to exchange experiences between the two countries but also among their own companies and organisations.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Professor Howard Rush, BA, MA, PhD.
Professor of Innovation Management, Head of CENTRIM
Co-director of the CoPS Innovation Centre

Howard has worked in science and technology policy since 1974. After eight years at the Science Policy Research Unit at Sussex University, he worked in the electronics sector team at the National Economic Development Office, before joining the University of Brighton.  A founder member of CENTRIM, Howard gained his Professorship in Innovation Management in 1996 when he also became a director of the Complex Product Systems (CoPS) Innovation Centre. He has conducted academic research for the UK Research Councils, and the European Union has also undertaken research and consultancies for the OECD, the UK Department of Trade and Industry, and several United Nations agencies, as well as SENAI and FINEP in Brazil. His areas of research have included innovation management in complex products and systems, benchmarking, and evaluating government technology policies.  He was a visiting fellow at the Institute of Industrial Economics in Rio de Janeiro and a regular lecturer and research collaborator at Universities in Sao Paulo, Salvador and Rio de Janeiro

Dave Francis PhD, BA, FCIPD.

Dave Francis is specialises in team building, innovation management and strategy development. He is an active researcher and Deputy Head of CENTRIM (the Centre for Research in Innovation Management) at the University of Brighton. There he completed a three-year study of organisational agility for the UK Government. In addition, he was the lead researcher for the Partnership with People programme for the Department of Trade and Industry. He has conducted several studies into innovation in Small and Medium Sized businesses. Dave holds a PhD for a study of the roots of innovation capability.

Over the last 20 years Dave has acted as a consultant to many organisations, including:- Abbey Road Studios, Ashridge Management College, Associated British Ports, British Steel Computer Services, Commercial Union Assurance, Chemical Design, EMI,  Ericsson Telecommunications, Express Dairy, Forward Trust, General Foods, Henley Management College, Hindustan Construction Company, Hong Kong Mass Transit Authority, Hong Kong Telephones, Inmos, Jardines, Lion Brewery of New Zealand, Metier Systems, Northern Ireland Office, North Thames Gas, Oberoi Hotels, Philips TMC, Picture Music International, Save the Children Fund, SmithKline Beecham, Software Sciences, Thorn EMI, Thorn Lighting and many other organizations.

He has addressed conferences in Belgium, England, France, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and the United States of America and written more than 30 books.