Partnership launched to harness tech innovation

Equinox, which stands for Equitable Innovation Oxford, brought together more than 40 businesses and organisations in Oxfordshire.

A new partnership has been launched, aimed at retaining talent and attracting investment to Oxfordshire.

Led by the University of Oxford, Equinox - which stands for Equitable Innovation Oxford - brings together more than 40 regional partners, promoting Oxford as a centre for global innovation.

Partners include Moderna, the Ellison Institute of Technology, Siemens Healthineers and Oxfordshire County Council.

The group said the partnership is a unique opportunity to create the conditions to "scale up companies, attract inward investment, and foster talent".

Professor Irene Tracey, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, launched the partnership on Monday.

Launching the partnership on Monday, Professor Irene Tracey, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, spoke of the "extraordinary talent, research and entrepreneurial drive of Oxfordshire" and how when harnessed, this can bring financial benefits not only to Oxford's businesses, but also to the wider community and the UK economy as a whole.

"This is a point in time that's historic. We're taking an ambitious approach to what the Oxford of the future needs to look like, for the people of Oxford, but also for the benefits that we can bring nationally and internationally, through the great research and great businesses that we have in this region" Professor Tracey said.

The University of Oxford produces around 30 spinout companies each year. These are founded primarily to commercialise the research findings or expertise of university members.

But Professor Tracey says Oxfordshire is currently "haemorrhaging" these new companies abroad, to places like the US and Japan, losing the potential financial benefits that they could have brought to the UK.

One of the founding partners of Equinox is the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT). Funded and named after US tech billionaire, Larry Ellison, the organisation uses the latest findings in science and technology to help solve real world problems.

The institute announced last month that it is expanding its Littlemore campus from 300,000 square foot to 2 million square foot, bringing an estimated 7,000 jobs to the area.

Lisa Flashner, the chief operating officer from the Ellison Institute of Technology says Equinox will invest in communities in Oxfordshire

Lisa Flashner, the chief operating officer at EIT, said, "For the institute to be successful, we need to partner and speak with one voice. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts and so what we need to do is look at some of the most difficult problems and align the power we have together to solve these problems."

Ms Flashner says the building of the new EIT campus will bring "jobs across the board", from gardeners to mechanics and electricians, something that will be replicated by other businesses "because Equinox will invest in this community".

Equinox will run alongside other prosperity programmes, including the Oxfordshire Growth Commission and the Oxford to Cambridge Growth Corridor, which is estimated to boost the UK economy by £78bn by 2035.