Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS)
The MIA enjoys an excellent relationship with BIS, meaning that the government department is regularly kept abreast of developments within the industry and the specific concerns of MIA members. The MIA receives considerable support from BIS for its own initiatives, bringing benefit to its membership and the Industry sector as a whole.
One of the ways this relationship takes shape is through the Department’s UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) arm and its support of Inward Investment and Export initiatives. As an Approved Trade Organisation (ATO), the MIA organises and leads business development and technology missions to an ever-expanding list of overseas markets. The destinations have, in the past, included NASA, the Farnborough and Paris Air Shows, the UK Boat and Defence Industries show, while visits to the established Motorsport markets of Europe, USA, Japan and the developing markets of China, South Korea, the Gulf States and South America, now common place. The MIA has developed cross-sector ‘Technology Transfer’ initiatives with the Defence, Marine and Aerospace industries – with numerous notable success. MIA members provide technology solutions in space, aerospace, competitive sailing, power boating and in warfare environments.
In 2000, the MIA produced a feasibility report into the role motorsport could play in the development of energy efficient and environmentally friendly automotive technologies. This report remains available at the MIA research site www.motorsportresearch.com. This gave rise to the inaugural ‘Cleaner Racing Conference’ in Birmingham in 2001 and has resulted in a succession of similar events which have been held around the world, highlighting the business opportunities associated with ‘green’ motorsport and neighbouring automotive technologies. Long Beach, California was recently the venue for the MIA’s ‘The Race Goes Green’ conference, and Autosport International at Birmingham, UK in January 2010 will bear witness to the 4th European Cleaner Racing Conference.
