A delegation from Massachusetts led by Governor Deval Patrick visited the University of Cambridge this week as part of a ten-day trade tour of the UK and Israel.

The visit was aimed at strengthening links between the UK & Massachusetts in biomedical sciences, manufacturing and social policy, and was jointly hosted by the Institute for Manufacturing and the Centre for Science and Policy.

The delegation, which included leading industrial, academic and government representatives, took part in a series of roundtable discussions with representatives from Cambridge life science, cleantech and technology companies, aimed at fostering opportunities for collaboration and investment.

The IfM and CSaP also hosted a panel discussion which focused on how to encourage and build high-tech clusters similar to the Silicon Fen around Cambridge.

The panel included Graeme Reid, for the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, Cambridge MP Julian Huppert, and the IfM’s Dr Tim Minshall and Dr Eoin O’Sullivan. More than 100 people attended the event and heard how policy and regulatory frameworks can help assist high-tech economic growth.

The final part of the day featured a town hall meeting led by Governor Patrick, which focused on facilitating the development of the life science, cleantech and technology sectors in the state.

The Governor spoke of the historic links between his state and the UK and was keen to develop new collaborations aimed at strengthening these ties and creating new jobs to help both areas to grow.

It was a view echoed by Finbarr Livesey, Head of the IfM’s Centre for Industry and Government: “This visit is an opportunity to strengthen the ties between two regions with significant depth in science, technology and innovation. We hope the sharing that happens over the visit leads to future partnerships between our universities, companies and public support agencies.”

As part of his visit, Governor Patrick met with the Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, and was named to an Associate Fellowship position at the Centre for Science and Policy by Dr David Cleevely, Founding Director of the Centre.

 A graduate of Harvard, Governor Patrick was first elected in 2006 and was re-elected to a second term in 2010.

 

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