Will Hermann Hauser's review provide a boost for the Catapult network?

There are currently seven Catapults, including space, high value manufacturing and transportation. Between them, the Catapults have received more than £1.4billion in funding and the network is set to expand, with Catapults addressing Energy Systems and Precision Medicine planned for next year. Now, Dr Hauser is to revisit the Catapult organisation to look at how to build on the progress made and to maximise the benefits from possible expansion of the network. Announcing the review, Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "Britain has an enviable track record in innovation but, in the past, we have sometimes failed to commercialise new technology." Dr Hauser will, undoubtedly, be interested in seeing how wisely the various Catapults have used the money invested in them, how close they are to enabling that 'competitive advantage' and, most importantly, when the economic impact might be expected to appear. For its part, the Catapult network claims it has already 'come a long way'. Nobody can accuse Dr Hauser of being anything but a fully committed supporter of market forces, but he believes that long term work – projects that won't come to market in less than 10 years – can only be funded by the Government or by large companies taking a long view. At the moment, that leaves the Government in the chair. Catapults are – or certainly should be – cross cutting organisations and each, with the possible exception of the Cell Therapy Catapult, should offer opportunities for the UK's electronics sector. Dr Hauser will have a number of items on his agenda, but we hope the list includes: is the right work being done in our universities; is that work being picked up and applied by the Catapults?; and, importantly, are the Catapults taking full advantage of the innovation available within the UK's electronics industry?