Here you can find a selection of resources which will be useful to veterinary professionals engaging with innovation or seeking to launch new products or services.
This page will constantly evolve as the ViVet programme develops, so please do keep checking back. We would also welcome any feedback from members of the ViVet network as to resources they would like to see hosted here.
Innovation Workshop Series
Session One – finding a need and having good ideas
Session Two – developing your idea
Session Two – developing and refining business models
Inaugural Symposium 2017 – Presentations
Professor Richard Susskind
The future of the professions: how will technology transform the work of human experts?
Professor Dimitrios Spyridonidis MRCVS
Innovation and disruption demystified
Christopher Woolard
Project Innovate: a regulatory strategy to support innovation
Dr Umang Patel
Telemedicine and clinical standards: a case study in human healthcare
Dr Adam Little
Veterinary innovation in North America – challenges and opportunities
Dr Guen Bradbury MRCVS and Dr Greg Dickens MRCVS
Innovation steps: breaking down the gap between ‘here’ and ‘there’
Panel debate 1 – Here and now: telemedicine, wearables and big data
Panel
Dr James Andrews MRCVS, a vet, entrepreneur and co-founder of animal health data company Felcana
Dr Nuala Summerfield, veterinary cardiologist and founder of Virtual Veterinary Specialists
Francesco Cardoletti of telemedicine company Pawsquad
Professor Ivan Andonovic of the University of Strathclyde
Chaired by Amanda Boag MRCVS, RCVS Vice-President
Panel debate 2 – Coming to a vet near you soon
Panel
Ian MacLaren-Lee of Oxford Nanopore Technologies
Dr Payam Barnaghi, Reader in Machine Intelligence at the University of Surrey
Dr Adam Little, Director of Veterinary Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Texas A&M University
Chaired by Professor Stephen May, RCVS President
Read a report of this panel debate
Anthony Roberts
The RCVS and innovation: what next?
Views from our delegates - short video interviews
Free Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs)
Understanding Exponentials – Singularity University.
This three hour on-demand MOOC provides an introduction to ‘the pace of accelerating technological change and…the mindsets needed to create awe-inspiring solutions to humanity’s most pressing issues’
Inductions to Computer Science (CS50x) – Harvard University
‘Harvard University’s introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science and the art of programming for majors and non-majors alike, with or without prior programming experience’.
In his blog ‘Technology: Creating alternative careers for vets’ James Andrews highlights CS50x as an example of a course allowing veterinary professionals to make a first step in moving to a career in technology.
Webinars, Podcasts and Presentations
Shake-ups and overhauls – innovation in the veterinary sector (Webinar)
In this webinar Chris Tufnell, RCVS Council member, and Anthony Roberts, RCVS Director of Leadership and Innovation, talk about how the veterinary profession can embrace innovation to further animal welfare and the launch of the RCVS’ innovation hub, Vivet.
What will innovation mean for the veterinary profession? (Podcast)
We talk with Chris Tufnell, RCVS Senior Vice President, and Anthony Roberts, our Director of Leadership and Innovation, about past and present veterinary innovation, the launch of our innovation hub, Vivet, and why we as regulators are getting involved.
RCVS Day 2016 - Digital practice: the shape of veterinary medicine in 2030
Guest speaker Adam Little DVM delivers his talk at RCVS Day 2016 entitled:Digital practice: the shape of veterinary medicine in 2030
Reports and Papers
Innovation and Disruption explained
The following articles provide a useful introduction to the different types of innovation and the important concept of disruption.
Harvard Business Review: What is Disruptive Innovation? – Clayton M. Christensen, Michael E. Raynor and Rory McDonald
Harvard Business Review: The 4 Types of Innovation and the Problems They Solve – Greg Satell
Vet Futures
ViVet was inspired by the joint RCVS / BVA Vet Futures project which was launched in 2014. Through research, roadshows and meetings, and via social media, members of the veterinary profession – including veterinary nurses and practice managers as well as users of veterinary services – came together to express their views on where they saw themselves and the profession by 2030.
The Vet Futures report sets out six ambitions. These coalesced out of the huge amount of information gathered and were identified as being key to the future sustainability of the profession.
At the Vet Futures Summit on 4 July 2016 the Vet Futures Action Plan and the VN Futures Report and Action Plan were launched. The Vet Futures Action Plan included a series of 24 work-streams to be completed over five years (2016-2020), building on the six core themes of: animal health and welfare; veterinary professionals’ wider roles in society; the health and wellbeing of veterinary professionals; diverse and rewarding veterinary careers; sustainable businesses and user-focused services; and leadership.
The Future Of Wearable Healthcare In The Veterinary Profession
Jen Rowland’s visionary essay on “The future of wearable healthcare in the veterinary profession” was the winner of the Vet Futures Veterinary Vision essay competition, 2015.
Research and Innovation Centres
UK Veterinary Schools
The following innovation centres are owned or managed by UK veterinary schools.
Roslin Innovation Centre – The University of Edinburgh
The Veterinary Health Innovation Engine (vHive) – University of Surrey
LBIC (London BioScience Innovation Centre) – Royal Veterinary College
UK Agri-tech Innovation Centres
The Centres for Agricultural Innovation are a new collaborative model between the agri-tech sector and government. The centres will help the UK:
- turn agricultural innovation into commercial opportunities for UK businesses
- encourage inward investment
- improve farming practice
There are four centres focus on different aspects of innovation or agriculture
Agrimetrics –big data in agriculture
Centre for Crop Health and Protection (CHAP) – crop threats, pests and disease
Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock (CIEL) – livestock technology
Agricultural Engineering Precision Innovation Centre (Agri-EPI) – precision farming
Scottish Aquaculture Innovation Centre (SAIC)
Financed by the Scottish Funding Council, in partnership with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise, SAIC helps support Scotland’s aquaculture sector to tackle challenges and accelerate growth on a daily basis.
N8 AgriFood
N8 AgriFood is a HEFCE funded ‘interdisciplinary research programme that combines world-leading crop and livestock research with extensive expertise in social sciences in a single research initiative’.
Innovation Support
Innovate UK
Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency. It is an arm’s length government body charged with accelerating UK economic growth by stimulating and supporting business-led innovation.
Innovate UK supports innovators through advice, funding, events and networking
Nesta
Nesta is a global innovation foundation. It is a UK charity that seeks to ‘back new ideas to tackle the big challenges of our time.’ Using their ‘knowledge, networks, funding and skills, we grow new ideas that can change the world for the better’
