South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard spoke at the launch event hosted by the South Yorkshire Innovation Network at Sheffield’s Bramall Lane on 25 November. He welcomed the official roll out of SYIP, which will offer high quality, tailored support to businesses, charities and social enterprises.
The project is funded by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and is a collaboration led by Sheffield Hallam University, with the University of Sheffield and Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council. It will provide opportunities to access expert consultancy, including academic-led innovation audits and discovery days; professional interventions; student projects and placements; and specialist equipment and facilities provided by the universities and Barnsley Council.
Support will be available to South Yorkshire-based organisations of all sizes and across all sectors. Participating organisations will contribute a percentage of full project costs, based on their size, and also be eligible for funding support.
Interested parties are being encouraged to contact the programme at the SYIP website.
Both Sheffield universities have a proven track record of supporting organisations to innovate and accelerate their operations, and the launch of SYIP will add to the resources available across a wide variety of industries. For example, Sheffield Hallam recently worked with Sheffield-based dramatics company Inside Theatre to provide 3D imaging expertise to create state-of-the-art virtual models for on-stage productions. Meanwhile, University of Sheffield computer science academics recently supported South Yorkshire-based Automated Analytics to use advanced AI to scale-up its offer to clients.
The programme is co-designed and developed with each of the four South Yorkshire local authorities. It is one of several partnerships between Sheffield’s universities, local authorities and SYMCA aimed at driving economic growth and inward investment into South Yorkshire.
South Yorkshire’s Mayor, Oliver Coppard, said: “Our ideas powered the industrial revolution. We invented the world’s most popular sport. We’ve created products that are used worldwide, from New York fire hydrants that are made in Rotherham to the McLaren supercar in Sheffield.
“Mclaren, Boeing and Rolls Royce already work alongside brilliant local businesses, in and around our world-class advanced manufacturing district.
“My mission is to build a bigger and better economy but to do that we need to create new industries and jobs for the future.
“Innovation is how we will achieve this vision and we can’t do that by just focusing on one sector or capability. We’ll only do it by working in partnership and that’s why I’m pleased to be investing in the Innovation Programme.
“There is talent and opportunity right across our region and by investing in our people and places we can unlock South Yorkshire’s full potential.”
Professor Conor Moss, Executive Dean of the College of Business, Technology and Engineering and of Sheffield Business School, at Sheffield Hallam University, said: “There are more opportunities for businesses and organisations to thrive in South Yorkshire now than there ever have been before. The key is innovation, and we are delighted to be leading this programme to help people in our region to scale-up and reach their goals.
“At Sheffield Hallam, we believe in collaboration and in championing our region. SYIP will help us to take cutting-edge research and knowledge from our academics and turn it into tangible advice and outcomes for businesses."
Professor Sue Hartley, Vice-President for Research and Innovation at the University of Sheffield, said: “At the University of Sheffield we’re committed to collaborating with partners across the region to drive innovation and fuel economic growth. This ambitious programme is a brilliant opportunity to build on our successes and forge new partnerships with businesses and organisations of all sizes.
“We look forward to learning more about regional organisations’ specific challenges and aspirations, and how we can harness our world-leading research and expertise to help them innovate and grow in a rapidly changing landscape.”
Cllr Robin Franklin, Cabinet Spokesperson for Regeneration and Culture at Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, said: “Our Enterprising Barnsley team are excited to welcome businesses from across South Yorkshire to this fantastic new programme, whatever stage they are at in their innovation journey.
“SYIP offers them the opportunity to experiment and discover what is possible with new technologies in our DMC MakerLab and CreatorLab facilities, access to specialist one-to-one support, and a programme of workshops and events which will help them to find the best way forward for their business. This will help to drive business productivity and innovation across Barnsley and the region.”