Ignite Labs: Digital Innovation

Welcome to Ignite Labs: Digital Innovation – a dynamic programme that ignites innovation, empowers growth, and transforms businesses.

This Ignite Lab programme will use Digital Innovation as a catalyst for helping you enhance and develop your skills for identifying and building collaborative innovation projects using the power of design.

The programme is delivered by Innovate UK Business Connect and Innovate UK part of UK Research and Innovation.

This 6-week programme, spanning from November 2024 to February 2025, is your further education institution’s transformative roadmap. Armed with tools, resources, and expert guidance, it empowers you to explore and expand your offerings to businesses.

This programme has been designed to help you become a key player in business innovation support. Engage in a process of capability development that will help you guide partnered businesses as they embark on a journey of growth and innovation. Leverage human centred insights gained from panel sessions with industry experts and dynamic workshops designed to immerse you in the world of digital innovation.

Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to join a vibrant community of innovators, exchange ideas, and accelerate growth for your partner businesses.

Who is this programme for?

This opportunity is suitable for further education institutions in the UK that are looking to engage in a process of capability development that supports them in becoming a local centre for business innovation support.

This interactive programme will enable further education institutions to best support partner businesses by implementing design thinking into their programme pathways, identifying and developing new opportunities to support digital innovation, and leveraging best practice.

Ignite Labs will show how a user-centred approach to innovation can set organisations up for success by helping you shape your value proposition and offerings to businesses.

Why should you get involved?

Innovation Unleashed: Ignite Labs isn’t just about discussions; it’s a hands-on journey. From collaboration strategies to user-centred design, this is your chance to reshape your approach to innovation.

Funding Frontiers: Position yourself for future opportunities including alignment with the upcoming Innovate UK grant funding opportunities. Ignite Labs also opens doors to Design Foundations grant competitions and funding possibilities that pave the way for future growth.

By attending, you will have the opportunity to:

• • Articulate a challenge that your organisation faces in becoming a local centre for business innovation support.
  • Network with a community of further education institutions.

Scope projects through structured innovation workshops run by a professional Design and Innovation agency.

• • Discover the latest funding opportunities.

Prepare and pitch your ideas and concepts to senior stakeholders in the further education community.

• Learn how to build a competitive innovation proposal.
• Understand how digital innovation is impacting all sectors.

This programme will run from 6/11/2024 – 11/02/2025

Innovate UK Ignite Labs programmes are a carefully laid out sequence of events where individuals are taken through an innovation journey spanning the ‘discover, define, devise, develop’ sequence to apply the best of Design Thinking to their projects.

Applicants that attend all events in the sequence will benefit most from this opportunity. Therefore, a priority will be given to applicants who can commit to attending the majority of the events.

Who is TPX Impact?

TPX Impact is a design innovation agency that will be offering a number of exciting design thinking workshops during the programme. These workshops have been designed to help innovation centres understand areas of opportunity and user needs, helping redefine what’s possible, so you can take on your biggest challenges and start making real impact.

Introduction to Ignite Labs: Digital Innovation – Birmingham

08:30-11:45 GMT – IN-PERSON EVENT: WORKSHOP
The inaugural event sets the tone, introducing the programme and facilitating connections. Expect insightful talks, interactive sessions, and a roadmap for the transformative journey.

Please note that this session will precede the afternoon User Research Workshop in the same venue taking place at 12:30.

What to expect:

• Introduction to the Ignite Labs programme in-person at the Steamhouse in Birmingham.
• Hear from Innovate UK’s innovation professionals.
• Hear from companies delivering innovation through partnering with colleges and universities.
• Introduce frameworks for categorising different types of innovation.

User Research Workshop – Birmingham

12:30-17:00 GMT – IN-PERSON EVENT: WORKSHOP
In this workshop, we will introduce the notion of design thinking, aiming to help partnered businesses identify and exploit new digital innovation opportunities presented by the future economy.

Please note that this session will follow straight after the Introduction to Ignite Labs: Digital Innovation session in the same venue.

What to expect:

• Learn how to clearly define problems, conduct user research, and apply user centred insights to drive innovation with environmental considerations.
• Use best practice problem framing tools to develop a well defined problem statement.
• Review why it’s important to include the customer in shaping and evolving your product or service.

Creative Ideation

10:00-13:00 GMT – ONLINE WORKSHOP – ZOOM
In this virtual workshop, we will guide participants through a creative ideation session aimed at generating innovative ideas that will tackle the challenges outlined in your team’s problem statement.

What to expect:

• Gain practical experience in creative ideation techniques to generate innovative business ideas.
• Generate a pool of innovative ideas for expanding and improving offerings to businesses.
• Provide inspiring case studies to demonstrate what is possible.

Innovation Canvas

10:00-13:00 GMT – ONLINE WORKSHOP – ZOOM
In this workshop led by Innovation and Design expert, John Bound, you will have the opportunity to use a tool that has created value for over 11,000 innovation leaders across the UK. The Innovation Canvas is a simple but effective tool which helps businesses commercialise product, service, process or management innovations.

What to expect:

• Introduce you to Innovate UK’s own innovation canvas: A tool for helping you keep your innovations evolving and spotting barriers to its development.
• Evaluate existing projects or inform funding applications in 1 on 1 or team conversations.
• Identify urgent challenges and prioritise solutions to reduce risk.

Digital Innovation Showcase – London

09:00-12:00 GMT – IN-PERSON EVENT: SHOWCASE
This session will showcase the opportunities and possibilities in digital innovation. During this event a number of exciting digital innovation projects and the design thinking processes that underpin their success will be showcased.

Pitching Preparation

10:00-13:00 GMT – ONLINE WORKSHOP – ZOOM
This workshop is designed to provide your organisation with the practical skills to support business innovation. The workshop will explore techniques that will help you turn the innovative ideas and challenges that your team has identified into an actionable proposition.

What to expect:

• Develop a proposed idea or concept with your team and present to the cohort.
• Receive specialist feedback on the idea or concept.
• Discuss challenges and opportunities relating to implementing new offerings in your partnered businesses.
• Learn how a user centred approach can be applied to digital innovations.

Pitch Sessions and Close – Manchester

13:00-17:00 GMT – IN-PERSON EVENT: PRESENTATION SESSION
The grand finale where you will get an opportunity to present your projects to a panel of senior stakeholders, share insights, and celebrate the transformative journey. It will also be a chance to network and reflect on the collective impact of the programme.

What to expect:

• Pitch your ideas and concepts to an expert panel.
• Outline potential next steps for taking your idea further.
• Final discussions and insights.
• Celebration, networking, and reflections on the journey.