UKSPA 40th anniversary conference

The UKSPA 40th Anniversary Conference, held from October 16th to 18th at the University of Warwick Science Park in Coventry, UK, brought together leaders and experts to celebrate 40 years of supporting innovation spaces and dive into a wealth of topics related to our industry.

IASP CEO Ebba Lund joined a session about the future of Science Parks, in a panel discussion with UKRI's Place and Levelling Up Director Dean Cook, and Richard O’Boyle, CEO of the Pioneer Group, chaired by John Leake of Sci-Tech Daresbury. The session covered the roles that governments and the property sector play in science park futures, public-private partnerships and a growing interest from private investors to invest into the development of innovation communities across the UK and beyond.

Presenting recent IASP data and trends from our global network, Ebba discussed the increase in medium and large resident companies at science parks and its link to increased internationalization over the past decade. The data also shows a growing trend of female leadership in science park management, both in the UK and internationally, and shared the positive impact of ongoing expansion plans and diversity in models across innovation spaces worldwide.

In addition to the insightful discussions and a multitude of sessions, the UKSPA event featured networking sessions, technical tours, the UKSPA Awards, and a gala dinner, celebrating four decades of UKSPA’s influence in the UK STP movement.

Sharing foundation year with IASP - 1984 -  we were delighted to join our UKSPA colleagues and look back at a shared journey of engagement and knowledge sharing.

Congratulations to UKSPA on a successful conference and its 40th anniversary!