Welcome to our new bi-annual Co-Innovate newsletter in which we will keep you up to date with the latest news on our Co-Innovate programme, details of upcoming events, as well as latest hints and tips on innovation. In this edition, we give you an overview of how the Co-Innovate Programme works, hear why innovation can help your business, details re upcoming events and meet our programme team. We hope you will find this newsletter both informative and useful.
In an ever changing and increasingly competitive marketplace, innovation is integral to business growth and success. Our new Co-Innovate programme can help you learn about the beneļ¬ts of innovation, identify opportunities for growth in your business and create a vision to make it happen. Geared towards SMEs in Northern Ireland, the six border counties of Ireland and Western Scotland, Co-Innovate will help you harness ideas to work smarter, equip you for future challenges, add value to your business, help you stand out from the competition and boost your bottom line.
Each company’s needs around innovation development will differ, so every company’s journey through the programme will be unique.
Support provided will range from free workshops tailored to suit each individual business, to innovation audits and one-to- one expert mentoring. Companies who go on to complete assessments, will be selected to take part in advanced programme supports. These advanced supports are designed to help develop detailed innovation delivery plans: bringing ideas to fruition.
The first part of the Co-Innovate support journey is attending an innovation workshop. The aim of these FREE workshops is to demystify innovation and help you understand how it can drive your business forward. We are running these workshops across the three eligible regions.
What are the benefits?
Understand innovation, its importance, and approaches for implementing it successfully within your business.
Learn about the main sectoral research opportunities, clarification of what these are and why they are important
Engaging in group discussion on individual opportunities
Confidentially develop project ideas for how your business may take advantage of these opportunities
Identify skills/expertise/technology gaps related to achieving these project opportunities
Opportunity to log a company profile in advance, view other attendee profiles and request business-to-business meetings
Identify potential project partners via the Co-Innovate team's networks of businesses
Learn more about how advanced stages of Co-Innovate support could help your business
If you are interested in attending any of these workshops, you must first Register Your Interest in the Co-Innovate Programme to see if you are eligible – Check out the eligibility criteria here.
In a world where markets are becoming increasingly more competitive, studies have shown that innovation is vital for the success and long-term sustainability of any business. Every business is different (size, sector, goals, location, how long they have traded for, etc) and there is no one size fits all approach to implementing innovation due to this uniqueness. What is key is realising that innovation can occur in any part of a business and ensuring that, as a company, you’re open to identifying opportunities for change and continual development.
Our Co-Innovate Programme Director, Neil Ryan, has nine useful tips to help you develop innovation within your business:
You are receiving this email because you have attended one of our Co-Innovate workshops or have previously been contacted in relation to the Co-Innovate Programme.
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