Technology Strategy Board encourage collaboration and innovation with £18mn
The UK TSB encourage collaboration across the digital world with £18 million in support for ambitious projects.
If your business has been frustrated by having to cut its R&D activities then it’s worth having a look at the latest funding initiatives from the UK Technology Strategy Board. The TSB’s role is to stimulate innovation across the UK and it does so by funding various sector specific Knowledge Transfer Networks as well as opening up funding competitions where significant funds are made available to successful applicants.
One of the latest funding competitions is concerned with “Collaboration across digital industries”.
The guidelines for applicants are straightforward enough – find a big challenge that addresses more than one area of:
• People (privacy, security, trust);
• Pipe (communications, ISPS, technology)
• Poems (content and the related business models)
And address that challenge by working in collaboration with at least one other organisation – a UK business or UK academic institution both qualfy.
At the recent (8/6/2010) Glasgow TSB road-show event promoting the competition it was clear that the TSB are keen to see genuine collaboration addressing big issues. And keen too to make sure that the funding is equally big and realistic – smaller “fast track” projects can apply for up to £100,000 spent over a year whereas “main stream” projects can apply for significantly larger funds spent over two.
If the digital sector isn’t quite your area of interest, then its worth looking through the other funding competitions listed on the TSB site. Projects cover a diverse range and are worth reviewing in case your business could access the funds available to strengthen your R&D budgets or to ensure you can begin to innovate.