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Transforming UK Manufacturing

From 2020 to 2025, Innovate UK Business Connect will be working on behalf of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to join communities together to transform UK manufacturing. Join our community and help us drive positive change.

The 2017 Made Smarter UK review stated that “the positive impact of faster innovation and adoption of IDTs could be as much as £455 billion for UK manufacturing over the next decade, increasing manufacturing sector growth between 1.5 and 3 percent per annum, creating a conservative estimated net gain of 175,000 jobs throughout the economy”.

The £300 million partnership between government and industry is aiming to create a fully connected, dynamic manufacturing ecosystem inspiring innovation across academia, technology providers and manufacturers. Made Smarter Innovation is delivered by UK Research and Innovation.

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We have a mission: to build a digital innovation ecosystem that funds and supports UK innovators and manufacturers. It’s our hope that this empowers them to validate, develop and launch their ideas.

By partnering with experts along the way, makers and digital solution companies alike can completely transform the face of manufacturing.

Through the national Made Smarter Innovation programme, we’re making it easier for these individuals to innovate using emerging technologies. Manufacturers will be able to create better, more competitive and sustainable products and processes, while digital companies can get the opportunity to develop & deploy their game-changing concepts in an exciting market.

Made Smarter Innovation
  • Made Smarter Innovation Network

    The Made Smarter Innovation Network is a vibrant community of digital technology providers, developers and users and manufacturers. They can access investment in R&D, along with amplified collaboration opportunities across various sectors, within the UK and beyond.

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  • Research Centres

    A £25m investment across 5 centres to identify early stage, transformative innovation ideas, covering both technological and societal aspects.

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  • Innovation Hubs

    Made Smarter Innovation Hubs are a national network of facilities available to the manufacturing industry collaboratively developing novel digital solutions for key manufacturing challenges through a network of test beds.

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  • Digital Accelerators

    The Made Smarter Technology Accelerator isn’t just an initiative – it’s a catalyst. It brings together makers and innovative startups and scaleups to swiftly develop technology prototypes. The aim? To tackle some of our most widespread manufacturing challenges.

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  • Collaborative R&D

    Powerful collaborations solving the biggest challenges to develop industry ready digital solutions.

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Stay connected

Curious about upcoming events? Funding opportunities? Advancements in IDTs?

Sign up to the Made Smarter Innovation newsletter and get the latest updates sent straight to your inbox, or join our LinkedIn group to stay connected.

Innovation Case Studies

Made Smarter Innovation: Challenge Brochure

See here for the Made Smarter Innovation Brochure, featuring a varied range of Challenge projects, partners and case studies to date

Read the Brochure
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