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