working in partnership showcase: uniting industry and research · 2019-05-13 · the creative...

Working in Partnership Showcase:

Uniting Industry and Research

Future Fashion Factory

Sue RaintonProgramme Manager

The Creative Industries Clusters Programme (CICP)

• £80m ISCF AHRC programme – created 9 new R&D CIC Partnerships

• Objective “To drive economic growth through the development of exciting new products and services, generating a step-change in the creation of new jobs and the supply of high-value skills to fill them”

• End-to-end innovation across design, manufacture and retail

Future Fashion Factory£ 5.5m awarded by AHRC with an additional ~ £3m commitment from industry / Leeds / Huddersfield / RCA 54 month (4.5 years) programme

FFF Aspirations: the right product for the right customer at the right time

Shorten UK product development cycles and lead times; out-compete others based on design quality, speed & personalisation

Design out waste costs and reduce environmental impacts in the UK; increase margins by reducing stock & extracting high value from waste

“21st Century” designers to sustain growth of industry 4.0 in the UK

Break down current design and technology silos in education & training (STEAM not STEM)

Process of Engagement Call launched October 2017 2 stage process EOI / full application Submitted April 2018 Funding decision July 2018PROJECT START 1st October 2018

Industry Consultation Project outline built on years of previous

industry working Cluster bid, Creative Industries Cluster based

within c20 miles of Leeds Intensive period of face-to-face meetings

between project PI & industry sectorOUTCOME Informed structure of Core Research Themes Provided Letters of Support for application

Barriers to Engagement Resourcing – large amount of SMEs within the industry,

lack capacity within organisations to innovate Existing skills – well established very ‘traditional’

industry, highly skilled but ageing work-force New skills – need headspace / opportunities to

consider new technologies & their application Culture change – resistance to disruptive technology;

“we’ve always done it this way” syndrome Trust – different agendas between academic &

industrial elements

National Relevance Not just a challenge for Yorkshire National body involvement, lends authenticity

to FFF Programme approach

Many FFF network members are also members of national industry bodies

Overcoming the BarriersEnthusiasm Leveraging existing relationships Industry-focused Listening not assumingEmphasis on commercial problem-solvingMaking connections across the supply chainClear explanation of advantagesCOMMUNICATION!

National RelevanceEnsuring national relevance of

research, applicable to wider industry sector

Focus on UK PLC – but without adverse impact on major exporters

Accurate digital communication - fabric aesthetics/tactile/provenance.

Online AR/VR immersive communication for B2B and

B2C.

Digitally connected textile products

Processes for late stage fabric customisation& personalisation

AR/VR immersive training & education packages

Products and processes for reuse and recycling

Artificial intelligence & data driven design packages

.

Textile processes capable of rapid prototyping

2018 2019

Core Research Themes: project kick-off

Main criteria:

• Geographic attachment to the FFF Creative Cluster (Yorkshire & Humber region)

• Innovative idea – for the industry generally, or for applicant’s business

• Academic Partnership – can be as much or as little as required to service industry applicant’s need

• Future Fashion Factory Member –free to join & easy to apply

• Fashion / Textile-related

Responsive R&D: project requirementsEligible Academic Partners:University of HuddersfieldUniversity of LeedsRoyal College of Arts

FFF will help you to make contact with someone who can support your project.

FFF Programme Themes:1 Last-stage customisation2 Circular economy (sustainability / waste)3 Aesthetic Communications4 Data driven design (deep learning / AI)5 Skills / education (STEAM)

FFF Programme Benefits

INDUSTRIAL PERSPECTIVE

Provides additional capacity – people &

time

Stimulates new ways of thinking

Simple route into making

connections with academics

Enables ideas to be explored

that have been thought of, but not

resourced, previously

ACADEMIC PERSPECTIVE

Opportunity to work on real-world problems

Demonstrating the commercial relevance /

value of research

Facilitates closer relationships with

industrial partners

Helps to build long-term trusting

relationship between academics & industrial

partners

ADVICE? Listen more than you talk, and do what you say you’re going to do, when you say you’re going to do it

Funded by the Creative Industries Clusters Programme managed by the Arts & Humanities Research Council as part of

the Industrial Strategy.

Working in Partnership Showcase

regiotechforesight.org@tech_foresight

REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY FORESIGHT

• 2-year ESRC-funded project (2018-2020)

• Based at the University of Sheffield Information School

• Team:

a) Dr Jorge Martins, Principal Investigator

b) Dr Ivan Rajic, Research Associate

c) Professor Tim Vorley, Mentor

REGIONAL TECHNOLOGY FORESIGHT

• 3 goals

a) identify important future technologies for advanced manufacturing and materials sectors in the Sheffield City Region

b) build collaboration among key regional stakeholders aimed at supporting regional firms’ exploitation of these technologies, so as to increase the competitiveness of the region

c) create a toolkit for other regions that presents the foresight process and how it can be adapted to their own needs

PROJECT STAGES

STAGE 1 – ANALYSING WHAT HAS BEEN DONE UP TIL NOW

• Reviewed economic strategy and policy documents in the regionover the last 5 years

• Policy workshop

STAGE 2 – FORESIGHT EXERCISE

• Interviews with regional firms (20 thus far, 40 planned)• Interviews with technology and policy experts (20 planned)• Workshop with the interviewees and other stakeholders

PROJECT STAGES

STAGE 3 – COLLABORATION BUILDING

• Focus group to pin down ideas how collaboration can be best built• Workshop to build collaboration among key stakeholders

STAGE 4 – ASSESMENT AND WIDER PRESENTATION

• Focus group to assess the foresight process• End-of-Project workshop to present the project to actors outside

the region as well

PROCESS OF ENGAGEMENT

Project proposal stage

• Firms, business associations, key individuals in policy-making approached to be project partners/members of the Advisory Board

• Created a foundation to build on during the actual project

PROCESS OF ENGAGEMENT

Policy analysis, foresight and collaboration stages

• Identified contacts in regional organisations (desk-based research, recommendations…)

• Identified relevant firms in the region (recipients of Innovate UK funding, AMRC members, recommendations, existing lists of manufacturers…)

• Advisory Board and other contacts were extremely helpful in the identification

MAIN OBSTACLE TO ENGAGEMENT

Time constraints: issues

• Asking people to give their time for free

• Some are happy to do this

• Some would, but cannot spare the time

• Some do not see the point

• Key question: “What’s in it for me/my organisation?”

MAIN OBSTACLE TO ENGAGEMENT

Time constraints: ways to tackle

• Think hard about what you can offer to participating organisations/individuals (e.g. networking, input into policy-making)

• Tailor invitations to collaborate to specific organisations/individuals

• Examples: Policy Learning Lab invitations; networking opportunities for firms

BENEFITS OF COLLABORATION

For businesses

• As academics, we can do projects that are not under the pressure to attain direct monetary pay-off, but that may still be useful for businesses

• Example: even regional firms do not necessarily know who is doing what in the region and where they could potentially collaborate

• As academics, we can bring in new ideas

• Example: some of the policy suggestions in our Looking Back, Moving Forward report

BENEFITS OF COLLABORATION

For academics

• Our understanding of whatever is of academic interest to us is enhanced by gaining more on-the-ground knowledge

• Example: impediments to information flows in collaboration networks, power relations within supply chains, possibilities for unconventional policies

• We can provide better inputs into the policy-making process

• Example: finding similarities between the technological needs of different companies

ADVICE

• For academics: look at your project from the perspective of someone who has to run a business

• For businesses: think of academics as just another collaboration partner, that can offer specific benefits that you may find useful

regiotechforesight.org

@tech_foresight

jorge.martins@sheffield.ac.ukivan.rajic@sheffield.ac.uk

Global collaboration for a global challengeSarah Heathwood

"Technology has the power to transform lives. Robotics and autonomous systems could change the way we live and work in ways we are only just imagining. We must ensure that their introduction is done safely.”

Professor Richard Clegg

Foundation Chief Executive

Lloyd’s Register Foundation

RECOLL demonstrator project – Improving safety and productivity in manufacturing by studying human-robot interaction when using collaborative robots.Research partners: Machining Centers Manufacturing SpA, University of York, and National Research Council of Italy.

“As a representative of industry, participation in the AAIP provides me with valuable access to cutting edge research that I can transfer back into my day-to-day work.”

Dr Simon Burton

Programme Fellow

Chief Expert at Robert Bosch GmbH, Germany

Sarah Heathwood

sarah.heathwood@york.ac.uk

01904 325565

Business Engagement and the Social SciencesDr Adam Luqmani – Senior Portfolio Manager, ESRC

Working in Partnership Showcase, 8 May 2019

Business Engagement in UKRI

▶ UKRI has an explicit role to support the

Government’s Industrial Strategy and 2.4% target for

R&D spend

– UKRI must encourage businesses to invest more in

innovation than they currently do

▶ Collaboration is one of UKRI’s four values

▶ Economic impact separately emphasised in Strategic

Prospectus, with business facing KE highlighted

Business Engagement in ESRC

▶ More of our research community valuing and

conducting collaborative research and knowledge

exchange with (rather than just on) businesses

▶ Expect to deliver various aspects of this over the

next 3-10 years

5 areas we want to work on

▶ Social scientists – changing attitudes to business

▶ Businesses – see the value

▶ Key knowledge brokers – equipped with knowledge

and tools

▶ ECRs – advocates for business engagement

▶ ESRC staff – business engagement is business as usual

Why do we want to boost business

engagement?▶ Benefits to research itself

– Co-production,

– Data access

– New kinds of questions

▶ Enables wider research impact

– Businesses as key actors

▶ Benefits businesses

▶ This doesn’t mean we don’t want research “on”

business – just rebalancing the mixture

What we mean by business

▶ Makes a profit – but may invest that profit in its

members (a cooperative), the services provided

(building societies, housing associations) or use it for

the public good (many social enterprises)

▶ Excludes purely or mainly grant/donation funded

charities

▶ Excludes the public sector (national, devolved or local

Governments, NHS Trusts, Police Forces)

▶ Excludes universities

Business Boost

▶ Up to £100k

▶ 26 funded in 2018

▶ Two inter-related goals:

– Build collaborations with business

– Prepare for ISCF Wave 3

▶ Used in a variety of ways

▶ Will know more soon (reporting due 24 May

onwards)

Opportunities

▶ ISCF Wave 3

▶ Launching Summer 2019, expect calls in Autumn

▶ Expect calls to be business led

▶ Shortlisted topics

https://innovateuk.blog.gov.uk/2019/02/05/industrial-strategy-challenge-fund-wave-3-shortlist/

Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Driving the Electric Revolution

Digital Security by Design Commercialising Quantum

Accelerating Detection of Disease Transforming Foundation Industries

Future Flight Industrial Decarbonising

Manufacturing Made Smarter

Opportunities

▶ KTP

– ESRC budget available for this activity

– Success rate above 60%

– BEIS - £5m additional funding for productivity-focused KTPs

– Golden opportunity

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/knowledge-transfer-partnerships-what-they-are-and-how-to-apply

http://ktp.innovateuk.org/

Support

▶ Commercialisation Tool

– Coming soon to ESRC website

– Soft Introduction to commercialisation for the social

sciences

– Built using interviews from a range of experts in KE

▶ Catching the Wave – Free Event

– Social sciences in the industrial strategy

– 20 May 2019

– Sheffieldhttps://esrc.ukri.org/news-events-and-publications/events/catching-the-wave/

Questions

Keep in touch!

ISCF@esrc.ukri.org

IAA@esrc.ukri.org

Adam.Luqmani@esrc.ukri.org

@AdamLuqmani