Innovation and productivity are in the spotlight. There’s a high degree of energy from DfE and Invest NI on building connections and charting the future direction of economic and innovation policy.
On Wednesday, Belfast Chambers is set to host a summit focused on enhancing productivity. The event offers businesses an opportunity to engage with policymakers influencers, including DfE Minister Murphy and the head of NICS. It’s badly needed, as the PfG says: “Productivity has been below the UK average for decades and is the lowest across these islands. We need to provide better support to businesses and help grow a globally competitive and sustainable economy.” And the last UK Innovation Survey (covering the period 2020-2022) found innovation activity here decreased by 6 percentage points with just under one third of businesses engaged in innovation.
Within this context, DfE published a report on ‘R&D and Innovation Support’ last week by independent research centre Enterprise Research Centre (ERC). It’s an important document, with good international comparators and case studies, highlighting gaps and opportunities to increase productivity, quality jobs, regional balance, and decarbonisation. Meaty stuff too for organisations that take a professional view on tax incentives to drive R&D.
It’s worth deeper consideration. So I’ve lifted out the key elements for micro and small businesses seeking a practical understanding of what to look out for and what might be coming down the pike.
First, Northern Ireland needs to make it easier for new innovators to access funding and advice. SMEs have to navigate what can be a complex support landscape. I spend a lot of time reviewing and scanning disparate websites and portals for opportunities. It can be overwhelming. Great though eTendersNI, Innovate NI, Matrix NI etc are, a single portal bringing it all together like Denmark's Innovation Fund is a good recommendation. (The report suggests Innovate NI might be the right candidate to fulfill this role.)
The report calls for “broader interventions” that help SMEs scale prototypes into full commercial production. There is a real need for targeted support to improve commercialisation pathways and better utilise existing resources. New initiatives like Founder Labs is credited in the report, and Cataylst’s Co-Founders programme (managed by the excellent Enya Carroll) is doing great work on early-stage, but more comprehensive support is needed further along the Technology Readiness Level scale. Check out page 58 of the report to see what this looks like in Ireland, and many of these will be open to Northern Ireland-based companies.
On the upside, the ERC evaluation finds that Northern Ireland is well-positioned for collaboration on local strategies that boost innovation. There’s strong alignment between government, business, and higher education represented by major enterprises like the City & Growth Deals. “Northern Ireland’s position within the UK innovation support system (i.e., UKRI, Innovate UK, Catapults) combined with local support measures, as well as access to international support programmes from the Republic of Ireland (RoI), the EU and USA, provides a range of support options for Northern Ireland firms seeking to conduct R&D and innovation,” the report says.
The options are there. But, as the 10x Vision document concedes, “Northern Ireland has a poor track-record of competing in UK-wide programmes and this needs to change.”
Initiatives like the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) provide a pathway for businesses to work with public sector organisations. I’ve been involved in a number of these and I’ve seen how the SBRI can tool up an SME with the confidence, creds and applied knowledge needed to tap into new markets and pitch for higher level national programmes. It’s a great route for micro and small businesses (that find it tough to compete on bigger structured public sector tenders) to successfully engage with government bodies. Overall, the evaluation report found that the SBRI competition was regarded as “an excellent opportunity to stimulate private sector creativity, agility, and expertise in developing an innovative solution to this long-standing public-sector problem”.
Targeted actions and strategic support
The ERC report offers plenty of ideas. For SMEs here, navigating the innovation landscape requires awareness of the available resources and a proactive approach to collaboration. By better utilising the support ecosystem, engaging in partnerships, and prioritising skills development (underpinned by the £12m Skills Fund and supported by organisations like Workplus for apprenticeship and Sentinus on STEM careers), businesses can enhance their innovation capabilities and contribute to societal change more widely.
There’s still much to be done to translate the current energy and ideas into tangible economic growth and innovation. The recent focus on enhancing productivity, supported by comprehensive reports and initiatives, highlights both the potential and the challenges ahead. However, with innovation activity down and productivity below the UK average, turning ambitions into reality will demand targeted actions and strategic support to help innovators commercialise and scale up the truly exciting work that we produce so much of at early-stage.
The path forward is about translating the momentum we’re seeing into meaningful change. Based on the ERC’s report and recent work around the policy arena, there’s real evidence that Northern Ireland is turning its potential into practical reality, fostering the vibrant, innovative economy that creates the growth, good jobs and regional balance that the PfG aspires to.
Editor: Geoff McGimpsey. Managing Partner: foundrymarketing.partners
