During the 1980s the government via Design Council and other initiatives, became quite interested in promoting design. In 1991 I started to work again with Alan Pearson. I am still interested in design, creativity and innovation. They are also very important of course to our quality of life, environmental issues, healthcare, entertainment and education. The way in which they are seen to be important has changed.
Manufacturing is less important.
The creative industries, multimedia and internet technologies, virtual organizations, integrated transport are more important. If they can revitalize themselves and collaborate internationally, there is potentially a much more important role to be played worldwide by research and technology institutes.