As international business markets have been radically transformed by unprecedented competition and pressure to innovate and meet the productivity challenge, so design has emerged as the key differentiator in an era of rapid change and rising global brands.
As public services have come under increasing pressure due to social and demographic change, so politicians and public service providers have looked to design to find smarter, more sustainable solutions for planning and delivery. And as the economy has relied more and more on creativity, knowledge and technology rather than plant and equipment, so national design expertise has assumed a growing importance in all aspects of economic and social improvement.
For a modern Britain committed to strengthening its business and industrial base and renewing its public services, the role of design is essential to the process of generating the new ideas and ways of doing things that will improve all our lives. As the UK’s national authority on design, the Design Council has developed a new programme to improve business performance and enhance public services through a demonstration of the practical power of design, and to maximise the potential of the UK’s design industry to contribute to national objectives.
This Corporate Plan sets out our new programme - the challenges we face and how we intend to address them. It describes the new delivery mechanisms we will introduce in a reshaped organisation, the measures we will use to assess the impact of our work over time, and the costs of implementing the plan.