The 12-month College Local Innovation Centres (CLIC) pilot project, funded by the Innovate UK Further Education Innovation Fund, will help businesses across the Glasgow City Region gain access to comprehensive support and guidance on embedding and embracing innovation within their organisations. The hubs will support businesses in a number of sectors including health, sustainability, and digital.
Support will range from advisory services to hands-on assistance in adopting cutting-edge technologies, processes, and business models. It’s hoped more than 200 businesses across Glasgow, Inverclyde, North and South Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, and West Dunbartonshire will benefit from the project, which starts at the end of March 2024.
West College Scotland alongside 5 other colleges across the Glasgow City Region will host the innovation hubs, with West hosting the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Hub.
Sara Rae, Assistant Principal of Enterprise and Skills at West College Scotland, and a member of Glasgow City Region Colleges Local Innovation Centres (CLIC) Leadership Group, said:
‘West College Scotland, working alongside our partner colleges, is delighted at the transformational opportunity UKRI funding presents to businesses throughout the Glasgow City Region, helping them become more innovation active. In recent years, the region’s colleges have been at the forefront of helping the regions businesses develop and adopt new technologies to improve their productivity and grow, and we are excited for the potential of the Colleges Local Innovation Centres (CLIC) programme to act as an innovation catalyst for business growth, in key sectors across the Glasgow City region'.
The award of funding is part of a UK-wide push by Innovate UK to promote innovation that will see £7.3 million invested in nine projects across 33 colleges. Other regions involved across the UK include Greater Manchester and the West Midlands.
The Innovation Hubs, hosted within each college, will begin supporting businesses at the end of March 2024.
Employers looking for further information about how to access the programme should contact Alastair McGhee at Glasgow Kelvin College amcghee@Glasgowkelvin.ac.uk
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