Local further education colleges will receive £2.4m Innovate UK funding, helping to launch new nationally leading technology adoption centres.
Innovate UK has today announced the recipients of the Further Education Innovation Fund (FEIF) – a £7.3 million investment that will enable them to create Local Innovation Centres, of which £2.4m will go to colleges in the West Midlands.
The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) worked with Innovate UK to co-design this trailblazing approach to strengthening the role of further education colleges in technology adoption and training for small businesses.
This is another example of the WMCA’s innovative new approach to working in deep partnership with Innovate UK to co-design new approaches to raise up innovation capacity and capability in our region and follows the announcement last year of the partnership between Innovate UK and the WMCA to boost innovation.
Each Local Innovation Centre will tailor its approach to the specific needs of local businesses. In the West Midlands region, the recipients are:
- The Birmingham Innovation Centre Partnership, led by Birmingham Metropolitan College, and including all six colleges in the Birmingham area, targets digital technology adoption within SMEs in sectors such as advanced manufacturing, engineering, dental, and construction.
- The Black Country Innovation Service, led by Walsall College and including all five colleges in the Black Country, will be a new anchor centre for manufacturing and engineering businesses to pivot into sunrise industries like electric vehicles and heat-pumps.
- Driving SME Innovation in the West Midlands, led by Coventry College and including three colleges across Coventry and Warwickshire, will drive business innovation in net-zero technologies including electric vehicle supply chain building.
Colleges will establish Local Innovation Centres that will become catalysts for local business growth by engaging with businesses in key sectors of their local economies to help them understand how they can adopt innovations in technologies, business models and processes.
