Our plan is that by 2002, all schools will be connected to the Internet and most if not all teachers will be computer trained. I was delighted that the JIF Joint Executive Committee was also able to fund such a range of excellent proposals in the first round of JIF - 37 awards totalling around 150m across 22 different universities. Not only was this type of investment unprecedented. The partnership arrangements and funding structures were also unique. It is just what the UK science base needs to equip it for the next century.
Innovation is about scientists and business working together.
Today, I am announcing the establishment of eight world class Centres of Enterprise in Britain. The response has demonstrated the wealth of talent and new ways of thinking within our science and engineering community, and the enthusiasm for enterprise and entrepreneurship. A range of new activities is planned, including teaching and training to support innovation and entrepreneurship and the development of managerial capacity to enable more business start-ups to grow successfully. There will be support to increase the capacity of Higher Education to commercialise innovations arising from science and engineering research, and there will be projects to increase the capacity of business to exploit and acquire such knowledge assets. There will be a regional focus, with the Centres forming strong links with local business, as well as a national impact through the dissemination of best practice in scientific entrepreneurship education.