Central to the SSR Programme, the three Hubs, across low-carbon heating, new medical technologies and sustainable urban mobility will engage directly with businesses, supply chains, industry interest bodies, and other key sector organisations. It is the hubs that will build the new markets and sectors within the region.
They are designed to clear the industrial and commercial roadblocks to the rapid growth of promising technologies and business models, driving productivity in new sectors and creating thousands of skilled jobs by building on the applied innovation activities generated through their programmes. This will focus on:
The SSR programme systems support will reach out to thousands of regional businesses in new ways, creating pathways for pivots and new markets through fore-sighting, establishing an innovation pipeline for future products and securing inward investment. Resource allocation and strategic decisions will be informed by a SSR world-leading integrated Programme, Business Futures, focusing on business data and economics analytics and assessment.
Drawing on the Made Smarter Northwest Pilot, the SSR productivity booster programme supports our West Midlands ‘make to print’ supply chain companies, kick-starting adoption of digital technology and automation and building leadership capability to ready business for the new SSR markets.
Our pipeline programme develops future markets and creates the underpinning capability and community belief that the West Midlands can pivot and grow with Pre-hubs defined in areas such as quantum technology, food innovation, circular economy and artificial intelligence and robotics.
Our programme allows an integrated, whole systems approach: matching under-utilised capacity with untapped markets and supported all the way by the innovation and business transformation expertise across the whole of the West Midlands. Rolling wave planning will be used, underpinned by live economic and market data to ensure that we constantly adapt approaches and investment to maximise impact.