Today, a strand of optical fibre as thin as a human hair can transmit in a single second the equivalent of over 90,000 volumes of an encyclopaedia. There could be more innovation in the next twenty years than at any time in the last two hundred. This change is driven by two factors which reinforce each other. Rapid development of technology and opening up of markets across the globe. Dynamic markets, international competition and new technology are vital spurs to economic growth and innovation.
Open markets bring new ideas and people, stimulating innovation and creative skills.
Wealth creation and rising prosperity depend upon the application of knowledge. In this modern economy, the main source of value and competitive advantage is human and intellectual capital. For most of our history wealth and power has come from the control of physical assets - land, raw materials, coal, iron and steel. In this, the 21st, century it will come from human capital. Knowledge needs to be created, located, adapted and exploited.