Friday, 4 July 2014

The Intangible Asset Network: will it thrive?

"Learn, manage and create value from intangible assets" is the proud boast of the UK government's Intangible Asset Network website, which you can take a look at here.  According to the GOV.UK web page that announces it,
Intangible assets encompass a broad range of assets, for example, data, software, knowledge management systems, business processes, goodwill, licences and intellectual property rights.
Intangible assets have similar characteristics to tangible assets in that they can be owned or controlled by an organization and may have a monetary value.
The National Asset Register indicates that the value of the public sector intangible asset base is substantial, amounting to several billion pounds.
  • help you learn about intangible assets
  • help you manage intangible assets and create value from them
  • highlight the risks to your organisation if you don’t manage intangible assets effectively
It is directed particularly at finance officers, information officers and project managers as they are likely to hold some level of responsibility for the management of intangible assets.
It should be noted that policies have been developed for the re-use of public information. While the commercialisation of public sector intangible assets might be a legitimate activity these policies and the relevant legislation must be considered.
The content has been developed by a project team comprising:
  • The Intellectual Property Office
  • Environment Agency
  • Ministry of Defence
  • Intellectual Assets Centre, Scotland
  • Foreign and Commonwealth Office Services
  • The National Archives
  • Department of Health and NHS National Innovation Centre
At present there doesn't seem to be much of substance, but there are plenty of clickables in the side bar which presumably will populate the site and the network with live, current and ideally useful information. 

Let's keep an eye on this initiative and see whether and, if so, how, it grows.

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