11 The role of demonstration projects

Seminar on Surface Transport:

The research and development contribution. Session 4

Session 4 Turning Research into Practice:

A strong case for demonstration projects has been advanced by the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology, in their recent report (1) on Innovation in Surface Transport. "The most serious practical difficulties in transport innovation..." they concluded "arise at the stage of developing and proving new technology". The essential role of a demonstration project is to validate under 'real world1 conditions those ideas and techniques that look most promising at the research stage. Other main purposes of a demonstration project are: (i) to test that the assumptions made in the laboratory still hold good at full-scale; (ii) to indicate the potential for commercial development and export of products, techniques and systems; (iii) to generate awareness and interest amongst likely sponsors and collaborators; (iv) and to reveaL the prospective return on the venture capital needed to implement the ideas to the benefit of industry and/or the wider community.