Industry Innovation Forum
N8 Industry Innovation Forum (N8IIF)
The Industry Innovation Forum is a new initiative between the N8 Research Partnership and the Technology Strategy Board which connects leading businesses with research intensive universities and other key organisations and networks involved in innovation, initially across the North of England.
The initial partners of the N8IIF are the Northern research intensive universities and global firms involved with research and development, including AstraZeneca, Croda, National Nuclear Laboratory, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Siemens, Smith & Nephew and Unilever.
What will the Forum do?
The main objective of the N8IIF will be to create new collaborations between industry and the research base to drive innovation, competitive advantage and growth. It will maximise linkages and market pull between private sector R&D, industrial and consumer needs and the world class research base in the UK.
As well as increasing collaborative R&D and commercialisation, the Forum will act as a catalyst for open innovation by:
- Matching industry requirements with science solutions and possibilities.
- Creating ideas, insights and innovations through an agglomeration of talent and expertise.
- Enabling cross sector innovation and knowledge exchange from a broad range of R&D firms
What will the Forum meetings achieve?
Forum meetings are held on specific themes chosen by businesses where there is a need to match industry challenges and ideas with new insights and solutions from the research base. Detailed discussions with industry partners highlighted that advanced materials was an area, across a range of sectors, where industry were looking for new and exciting possibilities from the research base.
The first event, which was held in February 2012, focused on this and through a series of industrial challenge led discussions, new industry to industry and industry to academic partnerships were created. Industry partners benefit from utilising the combined expertise and capabilities of the N8 Research Partnership, which provides an opportunity for efficient and effective access to the N8 science base like never before.
The N8IIF demonstrates the N8 Research Partnership’s core focus and commitment to supporting industry in the commercialisation of science and technology.
Next steps
Industry partners prioritised advanced materials technologies as the focus for the first meeting, which was held in February 2012. The next meeting will be in November 2012. The topic for this will be chosen shortly.
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