By Carol Bell OBE Strategic Engagement Lead – Creative England First, an introduction. Creative England and the Creative Industries Federation are part of the Creative UK Group. Our purpose is to harness the power of the creative industries to build a fairer and more prosperous world. We champion, convene, support and invest in creative businesses […]
Category: Blog
What is innovation?
‘Innovation’ has become one of those buzzwords we love to hate. In fact, I think it’s fair to say it’s become somewhat overused and as such, people don’t really know what the term means anymore, or they misidentify its meaning. The problem is that we mostly hear about big, disruptive innovation. We hear about the […]
How a diverse workplace supports successful innovation
By Fareeha Usman, Equality Diversity & Inclusion Manager at Dynamo North East “Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) give space for accessing better talent and stimulates overall business growth”. When we look at this message, it’s easy to think that we’re perhaps oversimplifying the complexities which come with the development of EDI policies for business, but […]
Capacity, Connectivity and Capability: the 3 Big ‘C’s That Can Help Regional Investment Landscapes Evolve
Jordan Dargue, Head of Access to Finance at Innovation SuperNetwork, says changing economic conditions mean accessing finance for small businesses can be extremely challenging. The economic impact of Covid-19 has certainly had a significant effect on innovation-led and early-stage businesses seeking sustainable funding for the future, as detailed in the UK Business Angel Market 2020 report, […]
Social innovation opportunities in the North East
By Laura Elliot, Membership and Communications Support Officer at VONNE VONNE delivers the Social Innovation Cluster for Innovation SuperNetwork, which involves supporting innovation in the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in the North East. As a Regional Infrastructure Organisation with over 1,600 members, we’ve got a long history of supporting our sector. Our […]
When attracting equity investment to the North we shouldn’t just level up, we should leapfrog!
By Estelle Blanks, CEO at Innovation SuperNetwork As we are curating the content for our upcoming Accelerating Investment and Innovation Summit on 23rd September 2021, we gathered a group of investors from within and outside the North East to discuss specifically how we might better connect, through technology and networks, investors and innovators across our […]
Introducing Reverse Innovation
Stephen Green of CUBED Mindset explains where the term originated and more about how it works. Where did the term ‘Reverse Innovation’ come from? In truth, it’s an accidental term that sprung from a conversation which led to it being used as a header on an email exchange. From there, it just seemed to […]
Combining AI with human expertise
How UMi’s innovative new approach is strengthening support and opportunities for regional business. The team at UMi have long-been at the forefront of innovative support for businesses, regionally and nationally. With the pandemic forcing more business support online, UMi has once again innovated to combine learning from the last year with more than a decade […]
Collaboration king in challenge to overcome innovation funding gap
A round up of the Accelerating Investment and Innovation Summit. By Estelle Blanks, Executive Director It’s been months in the planning, but this week we delivered the first Accelerating Investment and Innovation Summit, bringing together panelists from across the globe to discuss how to support more investment in innovation. Here in the North East, this […]
What is design thinking and how can it help your business grow?
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic that’s swept the world, businesses are being forced to innovate and pivot more than ever before. In order to survive, entrepreneurs and organisations are needing to develop new strategies, reinvent and produce new solutions. Design thinking can help businesses do just that. Our Innovation Manager, Graeme Miller, talked […]