More than £200m is to be invested in a network of elite Technology and Innovation Centres to drive growth in the UK’s most high-tech industries, the coalition government has announced.

The centres, which were announced by Prime Minister David Cameron in a speech to the CBI yesterday, will aim to the bridge the gap between universities and business.

Each centre will target a specific technology where there is a potentially large global market and a significant UK capability. Possible areas include plastic electronics, regenerative medicine and high-value manufacturing.

The network will be established and overseen by executive non-departmental public body the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) but individual centres will have a high degree of autonomy so they can respond to business needs. The TSB will work in partnership industry, universities and other interested parties to identify areas centres will support.

The TSB is to determine which existing centres to invest in by April 2011 and will then consider requirements for new centres.

Business secretary Vince Cable says: “These centres will help take ideas from the drawing board to the marketplace. They will play a key role in helping firms develop new products and processes so they can grow and prosper.

“Companies will be able to access technology and skills that would otherwise be out of reach.

“High-tech industries are the future of the British economy. Growing sectors that exploit these new and emerging technologies will help re-balance the economy and provide the highly skilled, well-paid jobs we need.”