The British Innovation Centre would be the national centre for anyone seeking help, on any aspect of innovation in Britain. It would be regularly updated to take advantage of developments in telecommunications, to allow the whole of the UK to participate in innovative wealth creation.

Using current technology, it could include a web site, a digital Business Innovation television channel, a Business Innovation magazine and a video-linked business advice service.

This would be a one stop resource centre, providing information for anyone interested in innovation in Britain. Target customers would include venture capitalists, business managers, business students from secondary school to MBA level, private inventors and reporters looking for innovation related news stories. The DTI is well on the way to offering the web based end of this proposal. What's new here relates mainly to the integration of web based and other types of business communication, to squeeze the maximum utility out of the web.

The site would consist of information databases plus hyperlinks to other relevant innovation sites. Examples of suitable databases include:

• Details of forthcoming television and radio programmes, exhibitions, talks and courses related to innovation.
• An investment partnership forum, which would link entrepreneurs and investors together.
• Government statistics relating to business and innovation.
• A list, with short profiles, of companies who had gained the Excellence in Innovation award.
• A regularly updated supply of innovation and entrepreneurial success stories.
• An Innovation Advisor computer programme, for those who need some basic guidance. There is plenty of help available for innovators, with the DTI alone offering over 150 programmes for business. The web site visitor would answer a series of multiple response questions relating to their innovative idea. The programme would then generate a report and provide hyperlinked suggestions on what to do and who to contact next.

This commercially run business channel would cover business topics in general, but would have a strong innovation bias.

Learning: In addition to providing learning material for the Management of Innovation qualification, one or more guest universities from overseas, e.g. an American Business School, could be invited to offer television based open learning courses to U.K. students. Many professional institutes such as the Institute of Marketing provide business seminars. Highlights from such seminars could also be featured.

Marketing: The channel could provide international coverage of business related exhibitions and offer universities the opportunity to describe their latest technologies, research findings and courses for industry.

This would compliment the other media and provide a printed store of innovation related information. Past articles could be accessed from the Business Innovation web site archive.

This virtual advice centre would provide aspiring entrepreneurs, inventors and venture capitalists with expert advice. Video linked consultations would cut consultation costs and allow the composition of expert panels to be tailored, to different customer needs. The customer could record a video of the consultation, allowing them multiple opportunities to work through the advice given, at their own leisure.

• Commercial web sites could pay a linkup fee, for the privilege of being hyperlinked to the National Innovation Centre web site.
• Advertising on the Business Innovation television channel: The target audiences would be very clearly defined, attracting business-to-business advertisers.
• Advertising in the Business Innovation Magazine: Television and magazine adverts offer different communication benefits. The synergy of advertising in both media would be attractive to advertisers.
• Users of the video linked advice service would pay a consultation fee.