Inclusive Innovation in the West Midlands

04/18/24 • 42 min

The UK is positioning itself to be a global hub for innovation by 2035. But how do we make sure that the innovation economy creates opportunities for people and communities from all corners of the country?

Getting this right has implications not just for businesses and research institutions, but also for the life chances of people and communities who have typically been marginalised or overlooked by the innovation economy.

So in this episode we explore some of the latest thinking on inclusive innovation and what it means for places - specifically one of the UK’s most diverse and vibrant city regions: the West Midlands.

We’ll be hearing from Emma Frost, Chair of the UK Innovation District Group, Pam Waddell OBE, Director of the Innovation Alliance for West Midlands, James Muscat-Sharpe, Co-Founder of Birmingham Digital Futures Innovation District, Monder Ram, Director of Centre for Research in Ethnic Minority Entrepreneurship, Alex Cousins, Business Director for Devolved & Local Government for Connected Places Catapult and Catherine Hadfield, Principal Place Development Lead for Connected Places Catapult.

Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)

SHOW NOTES:

If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on the Connected Places Podcast, please email: [email protected]. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

Follow the show!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Please also take a moment to write a review and rate us so that more people can hear about the podcast and what we do at Connected Places Catapult.

Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)

SHOW NOTES:

Follow the show!

Previous Episode

Highlights from the Connected Places Summit - 2024

Last week was a big one for the Connected Places Catapult. On the 20/21 March we hosted our first ever Connected Places Summit, in the heart of the City of London.

It was a big one because even though we run multiple events throughout the year, this was the first time we’ve run a 2-day Summit which brought together all of our flagship projects under one roof. But it also included a keynote programme with some of the most influential thinkers and leaders from across government, business and academia.

Over the two days had 220 speakers, 27 companies exhibiting, 30 supporting partners, and 850 people joined us in person and 1000 people joined us online.

We are also very grateful to all of our partners, including of course Innovate UK, our strategic partner for the Summit, Department for Transport, and our headline partner, DNV.

Keynote talks and other sessions will soon be available on the Summit website, and you can also register now to find out all about our plans for our next Summit on 2025!

Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)

Register your interest for next year’s Summit in 2025 on the Summit website, where you can also view videos of our keynote speakers.

Join the IPEC network (mentioned in the episode) by clicking here.

Follow the show!

Next Episode

The future of innovation procurement

Every year the UK spends £380bn on third party suppliers - £60bn of that is spent by local authorities - so it is vital to ensure we are getting the best value from the goods and services we buy. A big part of any public budget is not just the question of what things to buy, but how can we be more creative in how we buy, especially when it comes to innovation.

So, in this episode we want to revisit what’s happening in the world of public procurement, and what’s being done to not only improve the UK’s procurement landscape, but also make it more innovation-friendly.

We were recently up in Leeds at UKREiiF – the UK’s Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum – where we hosted a panel on the future of innovation procurement.

We were joined by Emma Frost, Chair of the UK Innovation District Group, Amabel Grant, Chief Executive of Bloom Procurement Services, and the Catapult’s own Rikesh Shah, Head of the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre.

Theme music on this episode is by Phill Ward Music (www.phillward.com)

SHOW NOTES:

Applications for the SES Awards are open until 31 July 2024. Interested organisations are invited to submit their programs and initiatives for consideration here.

You can learn more about the work of the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre (IPEC), a new partnership created to inspire, upskill and empower public authorities in innovation-friendly procurement procedures.

You can also learn more about what the UK Government is doing to improve our public procurement regime by visiting the Transforming Public Procurement landing page where you can find webinars, factsheets, summary guides and even a checklist to help prepare for when the new rules come into force.

To find out more about the work of Bloom, a professional services facilitator specialising in public procurement, click here to learn more about ‘NEPRO BloomSustain’.

If you'd like to get in touch with your feedback, comments and suggestions on what you'd like to hear more of on Connected Places, please email: [email protected]. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

To find out more about what we do at the Connected Places Catapult and to hear about the latest news, events and announcements, visit cp.catapult.org.uk and do sign up to our newsletter!