Innovation Archives - Page 18 of 19 - North East Local Enterprise Partnership

The 2016-17 Calls for Proposals from Horizon 2020 Energy are expected to be launched in late September/early October 2015. The exact content of the Calls has yet to be finalised but it is expected that the Calls will cover the following technology areas:

Topic area: Energy efficiency including heating and cooling, engaging consumers, buildings, industry, products, innovative financing
Budget for 2016: €93M

Topic area: Low carbon energy including smart grids, PV, wind, ocean, geothermal, biofuels and CCS
Budget for 2016: €350M

Topic area: Smart cities and communities
Budget for 2016: €60M

Information Days and Brokerage Event

The European Information Days on the new Calls will be held on 14th and 15th September in Brussels. The Information Days will cover all of the topics listed above, with more focused events taking place in October and November, see below. The September Information Days are now fully booked and a waiting list has been put in place. Details can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=events&eventcode=0B56FA95-AFE0-D63B-DD0527FE301EC26C

The Information Days will be broadcast online and recorded so you will be able to access the information even if you are unable to attend the event.

A Brokerage Event will be held in conjunction with the Information Days on 16th September in Brussels. The Brokerage Event is an opportunity to arrange bi-lateral meetings with organisations from across Europe. You can upload your organisation profile, review those of others and arrange meetings on the event website at http://www.b2match.eu/energycall2016

The Commission is also holding Information Days on Energy Efficient Buildings and Smart Cities and Communities. These will be held in Brussels on 16th October and 6th November respectively. Details of the Energy Efficient Buildings event can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=events&eventcode=15D37837-00DB-76EF-F5464112289AFF07

Details of the Smart Cities and Communities event will be available in September. For more information, please visit http://www.euenergyfocus.co.uk/newsletter/horizon-2020-update

For more information, please email [email protected] or [email protected] at RTC North Ltd.

Many people struggle to describe innovation. What does it mean to you?

For me, innovation is about bringing new products or services to market that have the potential to make a difference. It is about not accepting the status quo and finding new ways to solve existing problems.

Can you explain a little about your specific role and what you do?

I am the Managing Director of Big Solar Limited. As a small start-up company this means that the role is pretty wide ranging – including making the tea! I spend most of my time working to raise new funds for the company, overseeing the development progress of our new solar technology, Power Roll, and working to develop relationships with third party suppliers and partners.

What does Big Solar do differently that sets it apart from its competitors?

Big Solar is developing Power Roll, which uses a new and unique method to harness the power of the sun. We are taking a completely different approach to generating solar power that should allow us to produce Power Roll at a fraction of the cost of existing solar panels which are currently largely manufactured in the Far East.

You recently won ENGIE’s Big Pitch UK competition. What does that mean to you and the business?

It was great for Power Roll to be recognised by such a large company as ENGIE. We are now working with ENGIE to see how we may be able to collaborate in the future.

Where does your workforce come from? Is the North East providing people with the right skills to lead this sector forward?

The majority of our Board and indeed the inventor of the Power Roll technology are from the North East. We are passionate about developing what could be a truly global product here in the North East. We have also recruited a research scientist who is from the region. We will continue to try and recruit from the North East talent pool where possible.

What could be done to improve the innovation sector in the North East?

I think the North East LEP is doing a great job in driving innovation in the region but there is always more that could be done, including fostering relationships between small companies working on new technologies with universities and larger corporates. Some specific local funding for innovative technologies would also be beneficial.

What are your ambitions for the renewables sector in the North East?

We would like to contribute to building the Northern Powerhouse although powered by renewable energy! We have some great universities and renewable energy companies in the North East and we can really make a difference.

A guest post by Venturefest North East Director, Simon Green.

Some businesses can get their new ideas to market without external funding. They may have their own resources to bring to bear or they may have an idea that generates revenue straightaway. Most ideas though need some external funding to overcome the hurdles common to commercialising new products and services.

External funding may come with baggage, in the form of reduced control over the business, increased administrative burden or the costs of interest payments, dividends or a share of sale proceeds. It can also bring benefits in terms of access to the funder’s networks, public validation of your idea and input from knowledgeable investors who have seen other businesses undertake similar journeys.

For ambitious, growing businesses I think that the benefits of bringing in external investors are underestimated. Often such businesses don’t have all the networks they need to succeed and can’t afford to buy in expensive non-executive directors and advisors. Partnering with the right external investor can not only help financially but also in terms of accessing this expertise.

The key word here is partnership. The lovely people at the BBC would love you to think that real world business investment follows the confrontational Dragons’ Den style. I’ve seen plenty of organisations over the years trying to replicate this approach and plenty of businesses who see getting money from investors as a game where there is only one winner. This is a mistake.

Investors are not in their line of work to sit on their money. Whatever type of investor they are, from angels to banks to venture capitalists, their job is to give out money to as many successful businesses as possible. They only make a profit if their money is invested in a business that takes it and creates value from it. Once they’ve made an investment, they want the business to grow and succeed so that they can get some money back. If you’ve partnered with the right investor, they will be on your side, even if it doesn’t always feel like that when they are asking you difficult questions!

Therefore, if you’re trying to raise money for your business, try to think about ensuring you are talking to the right partners, not just the easiest source of cash. In the long run, the investor’s connections, interest in your business and desire to work with you on helping your business succeed may be more important than the money they invest.

At Venturefest North East, we don’t take a Dragons’ Den approach. We focus on identifying the right investors for businesses and working to spark these partnering relationships. Our method works; last year 17 of the 51 businesses we worked with were offered investment at Venturefest. This year, we will again be pairing around 50 businesses with a range of investors from the region and from elsewhere in the country.

If you are looking for investment for your business, speak to us first about how we can help. You can apply (for free) now to meet investors at Venturefest by going to www.venturefestnortheast.com.

Venturefest North East is supported by Innovate UK, the Knowledge Transfer Network and North East LEP, along with around 20 local innovation organisations. Taking place on 13th October, it will include keynote talks from successful innovators, in-depth workshops, a showcase of innovative regional businesses and plenty of networking opportunities.

The North East has reached an exciting point when it comes to innovation. There is a cluster of companies, big and small, helping to position our region as a leader in the field of low carbon vehicles and clean technologies and this is somewhere that is making a real difference to industry.

Hyperdrive Innovation is based at the Future Technology Centre in Sunderland and for the past three years we have been developing electric vehicle and energy storage systems, including advances in battery packs and Li-ion battery management.

In simple terms, we provide companies with high specification batteries for use in electric and hybrid transport, industrial robots, off grid and portable energy storage.

Our ethos is to develop and manufacture new technology solutions that not only improve products but also help get them to market. It’s about approaching things differently and lowering costs of leading-edge technology. People come to us because they can’t find an off-the-shelf item; what we provide is designed around a specific need.

We’re currently working with an organisation to improve performance, availability and running times for a fleet of warehouse robots. We’ve been able to design a bespoke power system that achieves their unique requirements and this has given them a competitive advantage.

One of the most exciting developments at Hyperdrive Innovation is our new battery factory, which opened earlier this year. Previously we focused on engineering and developing new products, making them in prototype numbers but we now have the capability to fulfill orders for up to 10,000 units per year.

This provides us with an opportunity to use our technology to create products that are designed, developed and manufactured here in the North East. It also means we can look to expand the business and we are introducing a standard range so customers can benefit from economies of scale.

There is a lot of talent in the region and we work closely with Newcastle University on placement opportunities, which have resulted in full time employment. The Future Technology Centre is an impressive facility and the infrastructure is developing in the right way to drive the sector forward.

What I’d like to see is more collaboration between companies based in the region. The North East Automotive Alliance has recently been set up to provide a platform to share knowledge and best practice. We need to get people working together across sectors and ensure big businesses work with small businesses to develop new products and capability.

Ongoing technological development is key. If we develop it here in the North East we should strive to make it here too, generating more jobs and growing our economy.

I agree with the North East LEP helping to lead the way by positioning the automotive industry centrally within its innovation programme. The inclusion of automotive ensures a clear vision for the sector that will benefit organisations like Hyperdrive Innovation moving forward.

It’s an exciting time to be working in the innovation sector and we need to be ready to realise every opportunity that comes our way.

Steve Abbott, Business Development Manager at Hyperdrive Innovation

A guest post by Venturefest North East Director, Simon Green.

When we talk about innovation in this part of the world, we often hark back to the 19th century. We talk about the first railways, the first incandescent lightbulb, steam turbines and the age of coal, steel and shipbuilding. But what’s happening today?

At first glance, it appears that the North East is no longer developing innovative products that can change the world. It’s undoubtedly true that invention and innovation is now a more globally dispersed activity, with labs, governments and businesses in North America and the Far East leading the way in many fields. However, I don’t think it’s true that the North East of England is no longer relevant in innovation terms.

My argument is that there are businesses from small-scale start-ups through to more established, larger companies who are delivering value from ground-breaking ideas. These businesses are often world leaders in their fields but are almost unknown in their own area. This is because they spend their time dealing with global customers, suppliers and operational issues rather than worrying about their regional profile.

As a result, we don’t get to see the bulk of the innovation activity going on in the region. This is a shame, as it means that the profile of the community here is lower than it could be, making it more difficult to attract good skilled people to the region and more difficult to persuade businesses to move here. It also means that we have less obvious success stories to inspire the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.

I want to change this.

Working with the innovation team at the North East BIC, we plan to use Venturefest North East as a way to promote the successes of innovative North East companies. We want the great businesses buried in the industrial estates and office complexes of the region to shout about what they do, for their own benefit and for the benefit of all of us.

If you’ve got a good innovation story to tell, apply to the Innovation Showcase at this year’s Venturefest. Details are online at www.venturefestnortheast.com.

Venturefest North East is part of the national Venturefest Network and is sponsored by Innovate UK and the North East LEP.

Professor Roy Sandbach, Chair of the North East LEP Innovation Board, reflects on the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s announcement of the Northern Futures University Technical College, a new employer-driven school for the region.

It’s impossible to imagine a prosperous future for any region without the creation of a vibrant and innovative knowledge-based economy. Every single advancing region across the world is striving for this and, clearly, NELEP’s aim is to deliver not just more jobs but these better, higher-paid jobs here in the North East.

But we can’t create or attract these innovation jobs in our key employment sectors unless we have advanced skills. That’s why I am so pleased with the announcement this week of the new Northern Futures University Technical College (UTC).

Northern Futures UTC will be a school providing an all-round, forward-looking and dynamic curriculum but with added focus on two employment sectors, IT and healthcare sciences. Key regional employers will engage directly with the curriculum and work directly with students (and parents). That way we will go beyond the fragmented employer involvement with schools that is definitely well-meaning but isn’t always capable of providing the quality and quantity of skilled people that the region really needs in its most important sectors.

Eventually, Northern Futures will have 600 young people aged 14 to 18 from across the region, equipping them with the skills to build successful careers in important regionally-relevant sectors. A key contribution within the NELEP skills agenda and a driver for inward innovation investment.

This will work. The people involved in successfully leading the bid for this UTC are committed to the region, understand the challenges, are aware of the employer needs, include high-quality, experienced education and city management professionals and are used to success!! By the way, simply getting this far has been a tough job…and the bid team should be congratulated.

Of course, we will need active employer support. We need involvement from across the IT and digital community, from organisations big and small. We need support from all employers in healthcare science. This must be exciting and engaging for pupils and parents. Come and join us.

Personally, I can’t think of anything more important than to use the collaborative efforts of the business, employer and education communities in the region to build a prosperous future. Let’s make this UTC the best UTC.

As well as the North East LEP, the UTC is sponsored by Newcastle City Council, the University of Sunderland and leading regional employers. These include Accenture, which has a Technology Delivery Centre in the region; Sage, the only FTSE 100 UK technology company; HP, which has a Regional Delivery Centre in the North East; and Dynamo, the North East IT Cluster.

For Healthcare Science, the UTC has support from a number of healthcare organisations and local SMEs. These include The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, City Hospitals Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, the Academic Health Sciences Network North East and North Cumbria, and specialist SMEs such as Kromek and PolyPhotonix.

This innovative new school is the second to be announced in the North East, with South Durham UTC set to open in 2016.

Northern Futures UTC will be based in Newcastle and is scheduled to open its doors to students in 2017.

The entrepreneurial driving force behind one of Scandinavia’s most successful science parks has been appointed to lead forward a huge innovation programme in the North East.

Hans Moller, Chief Executive of Sweden’s Ideon Science Park, is the North East LEP’s first innovation director, overseeing the delivery of more than £125m worth of investment to create a globally competitive innovation eco-system in the region.

This is one of the key pillars of the North East LEP’s strategic plan to deliver “more and better jobs” for the region.

With more than 25 years experience of leading innovation at IT companies, creating start-ups and establishing Ideon as Sweden’s first and most successful science park, he is ideally placed to lead the strengthening of the innovation structures in the North East.

Mr Moller, 56, will work closely with the LEP’s recently-created innovation board, which combines the expertise of international, national and regional business leaders, public sector leaders and senior academics, to help create the conditions for a new and dynamic innovation culture across the North East economy.

Progress is already being made, with five priority innovation-hub projects securing more than £26m investment from the Government’s Local Growth Fund.

A further investment of around £100m, including European funding, will be secured by the North East for innovation initiatives which can boost areas of business strength and promote vibrant social innovation.

The region’s national innovation profile was enhanced with the exciting recent announcements that the Space Satellite Catapult and the Digital Catapult will locate centres in the North East and that a new National Centre for Ageing Science and Innovation will be created in Newcastle.

Under Mr Moller’s leadership, the Ideon Science Park in Lund, near Malmo in southern Sweden, has grown to house about 350 companies employing 2,700 people in ICT, clean tech and life sciences sectors.

”When I spoke to the North East LEP’s innovation champion Professor Roy Sandbach and members of the LEP Board I was quickly convinced that there is a real opportunity to create a special, world-leading innovation system in the North East,” said Mr Moller, who is married with three grown up children.

”For me, it is extremely interesting to get the opportunity to use my background as an entrepreneur and as a leader in the Swedish innovation system in a completely new context and really work hard to make a difference to help create new and better jobs.

”I believe in the importance of the region’s effort in having developed a strong strategic economic plan with a clear vision and goals. Having an innovation programme as part of it with the focus on open innovation and smart specialisation demonstrates clear analysis and superior thinking.”

Mr Moller was also co-founder and CEO of the Ideonfonden AB venture capital fund in Sweden, investing in ICT and life science start-up businesses.

Prof Sandbach said: “In appointing Hans to lead the vitally important innovation programme, the North East has secured an outstanding leader with a proven international pedigree in open innovation and building and maintaining innovation systems.

”He brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge which we believe can help deliver a new innovation eco-system in the North East, where businesses are supported to deliver new high quality jobs and economic growth. Hans is also well-versed in the collaborative approaches and partnerships that are the basis for open innovation.”

As Scandinavia’s leading site for open innovation, Ideon has a 30-year history with many of Sweden’s leading innovative companies having started there.

Mr Moller added: “Open innovation can be a very effective tool for companies to develop problem-solving partnerships that sharpen their competitiveness and build business in a global market. But it can only be achieved if all the players in the regional innovation system are open to new ways of “out of the box” thinking. From my experience I know it can be done, so why not in the North East?

”I have a lot to learn about the region. But I can see all the ingredients for success with well established universities combining world-class research with great teaching, wonderful growth businesses in key sectors and outstanding support structures within innovation hubs across the region.

“As a former CEO of a science park, it makes me really happy to notice that there are already strong science park environments and innovation hubs like NETPark, North East Business Innovation Centre, Northern Design Centre and Newcastle Science Central, to name but a few.”

Mr Moller will begin his role with the LEP in March 2015.

The North East LEP’s new heavyweight board driving business innovation has called on local companies to seize the opportunity to get Government-backed financial help to fund new growth ideas.

The local enterprise partnership’s North East Innovation Board is leading the drive to encourage firms to apply for a £5,000 innovation voucher scheme towards expert innovation advice.

Successful micro businesses and SMEs will be able to claim up to £5,000 towards the cost of advice from experts at universities, further education colleges and research and technology organisations.

The vouchers can be used by businesses across all sectors to gain access to independent and expert advice on developing ideas and bringing new products to market, making the most of intellectual property or learning more about how to use design in business.

The £5,000 voucher scheme is being offered by InnovateUK, formerly the Technology Strategy Board.

Supporting more businesses to grow through innovation is a priority of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership and a key theme of its North East Strategic Economic Plan.

Professor Roy Sandbach, Chair of the North East Innovation Board, said: “While big flagship innovation hub projects, like those announced for Newcastle University and CPI last week, are important, we really want to find creative ways to support smaller innovation-centric businesses as they grow and deliver more and better jobs.

“Through this voucher scheme, small and medium-sized businesses can focus their innovation work and add momentum to their growth plans.”

Around 100 vouchers will be awarded nationally every three months, with the next round being allocated in January 2015. To find out if your business is eligible and to apply for the vouchers please visit vouchers.innovateuk.org.

Businesses with any further questions can contact the North East LEP on Tel: 0191 222 3180 or email: [email protected]

A representative from InnovateUK sits on the new innovation board created by the North East LEP to support it in propelling innovation, economic growth and investment.

Chaired by Professor Sandbach, the private sector is represented on the board by Dr Alan Lowdon, Neil Hemming and Dr Peter Simpson, all of whom have established international reputations for innovative work in their fields.

They are joined by senior university figures Professor Peter Fidler of Sunderland University, Professor Nick Wright of Newcastle University, Dr Tim Hammond from Durham University and Professor George Marston, of Northumbria University. Government agencies are represented not only by InnovateUK but also Research Councils UK.

Two North East LEP board members from the business community – Gillian Hall, former senior partner of law firm Watson and Burton and Arnab Basu, chief executive of Kromek – have also joined the innovation board.

North Tyneside Mayor Norma Redfearn and South Tyneside Council Leader Iain Malcolm represent the North East Combined Authority.

Ambitious plans to drive the North East’s role in new hydrogen fuelled vehicle development could create hundreds of new jobs, generate millions of pounds of inward investment and contribute to the reduction of carbon in the regional economy.

This is the conclusion of a new economic impact study which reveals the potential to create 1,500 jobs for the region if niche car and commercial vehicle manufacturers gear up production of the hydrogen fuelled vehicles over the next 15 years.

Spin-off jobs in supporting supply chain industries such as the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen, research and development, automotive skills training and transport and logistics would provide further economic and employment benefits.

The North East is a world leader in the large scale manufacture of hydrogen, producing more than 50% of the UK’s total in Tees Valley. The study outlines opportunities to increase this further reaffirming the region’s position as the third largest hydrogen economy behind London and Aberdeen.

The report comes as the Government recently announced up to £11 million to fund the roll out of hydrogen fuel electric vehicles (FCEVs) across the UK. This funding will be used to help establish an initial network of up to 15 hydrogen refuelling stations by the end of next year and includes a financial boost for public sector hydrogen vehicles.

The driving force behind the North East study is the Hydrogen Partnership formed between Tees Valley Unlimited, North East Local Enterprise Partnership, Gateshead College, the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), the North East of England Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) and Sunderland University.

Study findings indicate that upwards of 25% of the vehicles being driven on Britain’s roads by 2030 could be powered by engines using hydrogen.

Other countries are also adopting plans to bring hydrogen fuelled vehicles to the roads. In California, a strategy led by automotive manufacturers will see 50,000 zero-emission fuel cell vehicles placed in the hands of customers by 2017 supported by an infrastructure of retail hydrogen fuelling stations.

The report, commissioned by the North East Hydrogen Partnership, proposes that the region is poised to lead the way as the automotive manufacturing and hydrogen infrastructure and technical skills are in place to attract the inward investment for funding the new hydrogen vehicle projects.

The North East study was undertaken by energy consultants E4tech and Element Energy, and has been part funded by the HyTrEc programme, which is part of the Interreg IVB North Sea Region Programme, and the European Regional Development Fund; Tees Valley Unlimited and the North East LEP.

You can read the executive summary here, or you can read the full report here.

Category: Innovation

2016-17 Horizon 2020 Energy Calls for Proposals

In conversation with Neil Spann, Managing Director of Big Solar

Funding for innovation – a different approach

In conversation with Steve Abbott, Business Development Manager at Hyperdrive Innovation

Seeking the North East’s cleverest companies

Skills for the future, key to building our world-leading innovation profile

Swedish tech pioneer to lead North East LEP’s major innovation programme

Rallying call for local firms to access £5,000 innovation voucher scheme

New roadmap to power North East’s hydrogen potential