The Policy Research in Engineering, Science and Technology (PREST) is an institute of the University of Manchester (UNIMAN) that carries out research and postgraduate teaching on the economic, political, social and managerial problems which affect or result from the development of science and technology. Building upon a research programme established during the 1960s, PREST was founded in 1977.
Its objectives are:
To contribute to the advancement of knowledge through performing high quality independent research.
To undertake applied research and advisory work for government, industry and other groups concerned with science and technology policy and management.
To provide a centre for teaching and research training in the above areas, by means of postgraduate degrees and short topic-oriented courses.
To disseminate findings and advice to users in governments, industry, academia and other social groups.
As a leading international centre in its field, PREST’s staff are frequently invited to give papers and lectures around the world, and the Institute hosts a steady stream of academic, governmental and industrial visitors.
PREST’s areas of specialisation include:
Evaluation of government and EU-sponsored R&D is a cornerstone of PREST’s activities. Policy makers need an informed basis that enables them to make decisions on the allocation of resources between competing areas and to demonstrate value for money. Evaluation is also a learning process for the conduct of research and innovation. PREST’s work in this area includes development of methodology, design of evaluation systems and executing evaluations.
Research on science and technology policy at PREST covers a wide spectrum of activity that links longer-term projects aimed at furthering understanding with shorter-term investigations responding to the needs of clients. Examples include examinations of national systems, studies of scientific labour and capital, and work on indicators.
PREST continues to be at the forefront of theoretical and empirical studies of innovation. A programme of research built upon successive Research Council grants has developed a distinctive perspective, which, founded in evolutionary economics, stresses the dynamic aspects of technical change and the interplay between technological development and user requirements in the context of competition. A relatively new stream of work extends innovation research to the service sector. In conjunction with its partners in the Manchester Federal Business School, PREST is the location for a major research centre established by the Economic and Social Research Council - the Centre for Research into Innovation and Competition (CRIC).
Prospective studies, including Foresight and Technology Assessment. PREST has a substantial programme of activity that takes a prospective view of developments in science and technology in their economic, social, political and managerial context. Work in this domain includes methodological and applied projects, both with a broad scope and applied to particular areas of technology. Examples of recent Foresight work include:
A leading role in the organisation and management of the first UK Technology Foresight Programme (1993-95), including the design and implementation of the national Delphi.
Technology Foresight: Perspectives for European and International Co-operation - a study for DGXII, which reviewed foresight methodologies and several national approaches before exploring the possibilities for European co-operation in foresight.
Evaluation of the UK Foresight Programme – PREST was commissioned by the UK Government to design an evaluation and monitoring framework for the UK Programme.
Assistance to other countries’ Foresight activities, including invited presentations in more than 25 countries, British Council-funded projects for the South African, Czech and Turkish national programmes, and advice to several countries (including Austria, Hungary, Russia, Germany, Venezuela, Jamaica, Malaysia, Colombia, Ukraine, among others) and regions (e.g. Basque Government in Spain).
Co-ordinators of FOREN, the EC’s thematic network on regional foresight, which has seen the production of a Practical Guide to Regional Foresight. PREST was recently commissioned by the EC to re-draft the Guide in preparation for its translation into all Member State languages.
Training – PREST has been running an annual one-week training course in Foresight over the last three years. In addition, PREST is working with UNIDO to deliver Foresight training modules in CEE/NIS countries, and has also delivered similar foresight courses as far a field as East Asia and Latin America.
PREST was one of they core partners of the FUTMAN project, a major DG Research funded prospective study focused on the future of manufacturing in Europe on the time horizon 2015-2020. The project has used an innovative mixture of methodologies to explore the future of European manufacturing, with particular reference to the challenge of sustainability.
PREST was the co-ordinating partner for an ESTO (European Science and Technology Observatory) project looking at the development of competences for “Ubiquitous Computing” applications in Europe. This project supported the prospective scenario-building exercise conducted by the European Commission’s Information Society Technologies Advisory Group (ISTAG).
Partly stemming from the above experience, PREST is a core partner in a large-scale, long-term DG InfoSoc funded prospective study exploring future information society technologies for Europe. PREST is responsible for the scenario-building exercise at the core of the project.
PREST co-ordinated the EC’s Foresight Competence Mapping Project, which saw around 90 foresight projects and more than 200 individuals / organisations mapped. From 2004, PREST is a core partner in a large EC-funded project to map 400 foresight exercises across Europe. The project is due for completion in 2008.
With the IPTS, PREST is leading a pilot EC project to establish a European Foresight Academy. This network of foresight users and practitioners is being built for the purposes of foresight training programme development and wider knowledge exchange within the context of the emerging European Research Area.
With the Finland Futures Research Centre, PREST has prepared a Foresight Handbook for the European Foundation. This has been followed up with the organisations and management of a four-country Knowledge Society Foresight exercise. Known as EUFORIA, this project is piloting the use of various foresight methods and will result in the production of Knowledge Society scenarios for living conditions, working conditions, and industrial relations.
In cooperation with US firm Calibrum Corp., PREST has been developing and using Delphi and brainstorming software in an increasing number of projects. For example, the EUFORIA project described above uses a four-language online Delphi. These tools have also been used in foresight studies in other parts of Europe and Latin America.
PREST was a partner on an EC project to support national foresight efforts in Candidate Countries. Known as FORETECH, the project aimed to distil lessons from existing foresight activities, ostensibly to support pilot activities in Bulgaria and Romania (focusing upon biotechnology and e-government), but also to strengthen the role of foresight in Hungary and the Czech Republic. PREST provided training and advice to Candidate Country partners, as well as conducting a seven country comparative analysis of national foresight activities in the region.
PREST is working with the European Foundation’s European Monitoring Centre of Change (EMCC) to develop a series of futures bulletins for six economic sectors (IT, financial services, textiles and leather, health and social services, automotive, and publishing and media). Bulletins will be web-based and placed on the EMCC’s web portal. Drawing upon available documentation and the views of experts, bulletins will cover trends and issues in each sector, develop scenarios, and articulate policy implications.
PREST is a partner in an ESTO-funded prospective study focussed on technological and regulatory futures for genetic testing services in Europe. Specifically, PREST is developing scenarios for possible harmonisation of genetic testing regimes across Europe in 2015.
PREST was commissioned with the Centre for Agriculture, Food and Resource Economics (CAFRE) and the Centre for Urban and Rural Ecology (CURE), both of the University of Manchester, to engage in a scenario setting exercise to develop recommendations on priorities for research in the area of rural economies and land use. Outlooks were developed through a series of interviews and workshops with experts and stakeholders in land use, farming and agriculture, energy and environment, technology and social trends. These were built into scenarios that explore topics such as technology, economic performance, the environment and human behaviour, governance, communication and learning, lifestyles and health, and social stability and exclusion. At a Scenario Workshop in February 2004, participants considered the implications of the rural economy and land use scenarios for priorities for research in this area. These recommendations will be available to inform research council thinking in the years ahead.
PREST, with partners TNO-STB, were commissioned by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), to undertake a ‘future science needs assessment’ (systematically drawing upon the results of earlier future studies, and eliciting the opinions of selected experts) to identify, explore and assess future trends, drivers and issues which might have an influence on the science Defra needs to fund over the next ten years. The potential research needs and opportunities thus identified were an input into the Defra Science Forward Look Project which in turn aimed to provide better evidence to enable Defra to plan for its future investment in science (Defra currently spends roughly £300 million per annum on science). The “Science Forward Look” project forms part of a broader array of innovative future-oriented and horizon-scanning activities initiated by Defra.