Nesta

Nesta, was formerly known as NESTA, an abbreviation of National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts. It is a British foundation and registered as a charity, which supports innovation. It describes itself today as; 'The UK's innovation agency for social good... We design, test and scale new solutions to society’s biggest problems, changing millions of lives for the better."

[edit] A brief history

Nesta was launched in 1998 with £250 million of National Lottery funding, making it the UK’s first ever publicly supported national endowment aiming to improve the UK’s capacity to innovate. The chair was David Puttman and CEO Jeremy Newton.

• 1998 - 2003 a focus on enabling talented people to develop original ideas and, in some cases, commercialise them.
• 2003 - 2012 greater focus enhancing the UK’s capacity and systems for innovation.
• 2012 - 2020 an independent charity, focused on innovation for public benefit, helping define and shape the field of social innovation in the UK and around the world.
• 2021 - 2030 Mission-driven innovation, improving the lives of millions of people through innovation at heart of new vision.

[edit] Nesta 2030: New strategy

"Nesta’s purpose has always been to support innovation for social good. In our new 10-year strategy, our purpose remains constant, but the way we achieve it will change substantially. We will now focus our energy and resources on three innovation missions: a fairer start for every child; a healthy life for all, and a sustainable future where the economy works better for people and the planet. We’re optimistic. We believe that large-scale, meaningful change is more possible now than ever before, if we combine our most important assets - people, data, money and culture - in new ways. We look forward to learning with you as we set out on our next journey. " Ravi Gurumurthy, Chief Executive

[edit] Activities, vision and mission

We are the UK’s innovation agency for social good. We design, test and scale new solutions to society’s biggest problems, changing millions of lives for the better. For more than two decades we have worked to support, encourage and inspire innovation that benefits society, a purpose that is more relevant now than ever.

By 2030 Nesta will have significantly improved the lives of millions of people. Combining rigour and creativity, we will be a world leader in driving innovation for social good.

Three innovation missions. Each mission a response to a generational societal challenge, one where innovation has a big part to play in driving large-scale change.

• A fairer start - We want every child to have an equal start in life. Our mission is to narrow the outcome gap between children growing up in disadvantage and the national average.
• A healthy life - We want good health for all, particularly those most affected by existing inequalities. Our mission is to increase the average number of healthy years lived in the UK, while narrowing health inequalities.
• A sustainable future - We want an economy that works better for people and the planet. Our mission is to accelerate the decarbonisation of household activities in the UK and improve levels of productivity.

This article is based on content of the Nesta home page, for further information and detail visit; https://www.nesta.org.uk/

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