- NESTA
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This page is about a UK organization. For the Italian football (soccer) player, see Alessandro Nesta.
National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts 
NESTA headquarters at 1 Plough Place, LondonFormation 1998 (13 years ago) Headquarters 1 Plough Place, London Location London and Dundee Website www.nesta.org.uk The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) is an independent endowment in the United Kingdom established by an Act of Parliament in 1998.
The company acts through a combination of practical programmes, early stage investment, research and policy, and the formation of partnerships to foster innovation and deliver radical new ideas. Funded by a £250 million endowment from the UK National Lottery, NESTA uses the interest from that endowment to fund and support its projects.
On 14 October 2010 the Government announced that it will transfer NESTA's status from an executive non-departmental public body to a charitable body. NESTA's work to tackle social and economic issues in the UK at no cost to the taxpayer will continue.
Contents
Operations
NESTA currently operates in three areas:
Economic growth
NESTA's Policy and Research team publishes a wide range of research papers designed for policy makers. Most recently it contributed to James Dyson's Ingenious Britain report, and published a series of research papers—The Vital 6 Percent,[1] Attacking the Recession,[2] and Mass Localism[3]—that influenced all of the three major party manifestos in the UK general election in 2010.
The company also has a venture capital arm which invests in early-stage companies through direct investment. They use their unique position in the market to leverage a higher proportion of private finance on top of their own initial investment to stimulate economic growth.
Public services
NESTA's Public Services Lab aims to test out radical theories and produce practical programmes to demonstrate how innovative schemes can improve public services and benefit local communities.
Recent examples of their work were The Big Green Challenge,[4] a £1 million prize fund to stimulate community action on climate change, and Health Launchpad,[5] a project to transform the delivery of healthcare in the UK.
Creative industries
NESTA's Creative Industries team seeks to enable those in the creative sector to improve their business expertise. It has set up a number of mentoring schemes across industries such as video games, fashion and film, to help creatives bring their ideas to market.
One such example was the Alpha production by Wayne McGregor Random Dance. The project was supported by NESTA, the Arts Council England and Sadler's Wells Theatre, with animation and visual effects created by Mark Hatchard of Hotbox Studios and Hotbox Events.[6] The production toured internationally.
Management
Sir John Chisholm chairs the organisation.
See also
- Coproduction of public services by service users and communities
External links
Coordinates: 51°30′59″N 0°06′31″W / 51.516525°N 0.108623°W
References
- ^ http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/reports/assets/features/the_vital_6_per_cent
- ^ http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/reports/assets/features/attacking_the_recession_how_innovation_can_fight_the_downturn
- ^ http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/reports/assets/features/mass_localism
- ^ http://www.nesta.org.uk/areas_of_work/public_services_lab/environment/big_green_challenge
- ^ http://www.nesta.org.uk/areas_of_work/public_services_lab/health/health_launchpad
- ^ Random Dance Randomdance.org accessed 2010
Categories:- Innovation organizations
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