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Govt product development scheme unveiled

May 01 2009

A £100 million scheme will help small firms to develop innovative products for the public sector.

The Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) will encourage companies to develop new technologies for problems facing public-sector organisations in fields such as health, defence, transport and construction.

Mark Glover, head of the scheme, says it will benefit all involved, as small firms will create a product to add to their portfolios and the public sector will receive a solution to their problems.

He adds: 'There are lots of novel and exciting ideas out there and SBRI enables the public sector to seek out these innovative ideas and then support turning them into commercial, viable products and services.'

Competitions to design new technology for the Department of Health, the East of England Strategic Health Authority, the Ministry of Defence, Communities and Local Government, the Department of Transport and the Home Office will be run under the initiative.

The scheme follows a recent call from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts for the government to support growth in Britain's high-tech industries.

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