The industrial revolution was not just about the birth of the modern factory system and the wealth it created for a few lucky entrepreneurs. A study of economic history indicates that a whole series of other revolutions in the way British society behaved were taking place at the same time. The cumulative effect of these parallel revolutions was to create an innovative, "can do" environment in which Britain was able to race ahead of the competition, to become the world's first industrial power.

The central thesis of this innovation plan is that if we want to regain our former economic leadership, it's not sufficient for us to stimulate entrepreneurial innovation, we must also create a national "can do" spirit and that the way to achieve this, is to have a national strategy which promotes "innovation for all."

To provide some idea of what is meant by the phrase innovation for all, its worth while taking a brief look at the different types of innovation that our nation was involved in during its industrial heyday.

• In the eighteenth century, Literary and Philosophical societies were set up throughout the country. These lead to the widespread dissemination of enlightened science & logic based thinking.
• Workers education groups offered night classes and trades unions encouraged members to educate themselves.
• Mechanics Institutes were set up, first in Scotland and then throughout the whole country.
• Red brick universities, for example, Owens College (later the University of Manchester) and the Yorkshire College of Science (later Leeds University) emerged in the 1880's, helping with the birth of a highly educated middle class of managers.
• Innovations in printing technology led to the widespread circulation of newspapers and ownership of books.
• Most small towns and large villages had public reading rooms.
• One of the best selling books of the Victorian era was Samuel Smiles book on personal improvement, Self Help (1859).
• By the Edwardian era, many working class homes had a good library of the classics.
• Improvements in metal working techniques allowed high quality, affordable musical instruments to come onto the market. Brass bands become a working class art form and a local, work place related pride emerged.
• For the Victorians, attending Royal Society science lectures had parity with attending the opera as a cultural statement.
• In the days long before C. P. Snow identified the dichotomy of Two Cultures, men and women worked as enthusiastic amateur scientists, making important contributions to the development of modern science. The developments in printing and communications technology allowed their discoveries to be shared.
• Innovations in life style contributed massively to improving industrial productivity. For example, the adoption of caffeine, instead of alcohol as the water additive of first choice, allowed factory workers to labour for long hours using complex machinery.

Some of the innovations listed above had a direct effect in helping to create economic wealth. Others were cultural changes that gave British people of all classes a feeling that they were taking control of their lives and helped to create a national "can do" spirit.

During the first industrial revolution it was, to a large extent, a set of chance circumstances that led to the industrial age starting in Britain instead of say, China, the Ottoman Empire or France. For the next industrial age, we need to learn from history and create our own luck.

We need a National Plan for Innovation to guide us towards an Innovation for All national attitude. The plan must include provisions for:

1. Identifying innovation opportunities which will draw the rest of us, not just entrepreneurs, into the innovation process.
2. Publicizing these opportunities so that they are taken up.
3. Evaluating and updating the plan, to ensure that the innovation for all theme is maintained as a rolling programme.

The plan should stimulate and exploit our wealth of multi-cultural and creative resources. A rich multi-cultural input adds value because it helps us break free of our island mentality. - First and second generation immigrants have always contributed disproportionately to our innovative thinking. An eclectic creative input, fusing the arts and science also adds value because the most exciting forms of innovative thinking cross the traditional boundaries of art, science and design.