A £100m investment from the Innovation Accelerator programme will support the development of an innovation hub at University College Birmingham (UCB) to support SMEs to adopt new technologies.
Logistics, manufacturing and construction businesses will be a major focus of the project, with funding being used to broaden the use of Industry 4.0 technologies, especially AI in machine control.
Speaking to Robotics & Automation, Fiona Treacy, managing director of industrial automation at American tech giant Analog Devices, said: “Robotics are another essential tool to enabling flexible manufacturing and advancements in automation, and industrial robotics are shaping the future of work.
“With complex, repetitive, and often dangerous tasks being performed by robotic technology, human workers are freed up to take on more cognitive, inclusive and safer work.”
The funding covers 26 R&D projects aimed at accelerating growth in so-called ‘high-potential clusters’ across the UK. Funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the project will run until 2025.
One of the scheme’s ‘clusters’ is the West Midlands, with UCB being one of the six West Midlands-based further education colleges involved in the programme.
Rosa Wells, FE principal and dean of STEM at UCB, added: “The role of further education colleges has generally been as education providers, although our engagement with employers also sees us well placed to support business innovation.
“This exciting project starts the process of recognising further education colleges working with institutes of technology as part of the innovation ecosystem and presents new opportunities to scale innovation support across the UK and ensure all regions can increase innovation activity.”
The project’s success will reportedly be measured in the uptake of services and tech on offer by the Innovation Hubs, as well as their according impact on business growth.
