Future events
Manufacturing in a Knowledge Based Economy
Date: Tuesday 2 December 2008
Time: 10:00 until 12:30 (followed by a networking lunch)
Location: The Work Foundation, 21 Palmer Street, London SW1H 0AD
Against the background of the BERR Manufacturing Strategy Review, this event will focus on the role of modern manufacturing in the economy.
The traditional divide between manufacturing and services is breaking down rapidly. In a knowledge based economy, manufacturing firms increasingly derive much of their value added from the integration of services into the production process.
We will focus on:
- How the manufacturing workforce has changed
- Why manufacturing firms have invested in intangibles
- Whether knowledge and technology based manufacturing help the economy rebalance away from over-dependence on financial services.
Speakers include:
Martin Temple, EEF
Ian Brinkley, Programme Director, The Work Foundation
Download the programme for the seminar here (pdf 220kb)
Past events
Knowledge Worker Survey
Date: Monday 23 June 2008
Location: The Work Foundation, 21 Palmer Street, London SW1H 0AD
Today the central worker is the knowledge worker, the man and woman who applies to productive work ideas, concepts and information rather than manual skill or brawn’ Peter Drucker, 1968
This event showcased the first results from one of the biggest surveys of knowledge work in the UK. The organisational and policy implications of the survey results were also discussed
Speakers included:
Ian Brinkley , Programme Director, The Work Foundation
Rebecca Fauth , Senior Researcher, The Work Foundation
Matt Lambert, Director, Microsoft’s Government Affairs
Ged Leahy , Director of Strategic Workforce and Skills Planning, Rolls Royce
Sian Thomas , Director of Development, NHS
Download the programme for the seminar here (pdf 177kb)
Knowledge Economy and SMEs. What more should the UK do to support SMEs in the Knowledge Economy?
Date: Monday 30 June 2008
Location: The Work Foundation, 21 Palmer Street, London SW1H 0AD
Against the background of the Enterprise White Paper, this event focused on what more, if anything, the UK should do to support SMEs in the knowledge economy. Many of the new jobs in the UK come from dynamic, fast growing firms but we know relatively little about them or why they don’t appear to be challenging the established corporate order.
We focused on three questions:
- What contribution do SMEs make to the knowledge economy?
- What do we know about ‘gazelles’– and why don’t they turn into ‘gorillas’?
- What should we do about it?
Speakers included:
Ian Brinkley , Programme Director, The Work Foundation
Lars Lindstedt , Software Economist, Microsoft
Kieran O’Keefe , BCC
Vicky Price , Chief Economist, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Download the programme of the seminar here (pdf 18kb)