Why Innovate
Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity - not a threat
The overall aim of the Learning Innovation Programme is to increase participating companies’ innovation skills through the provision of a range of tailored supports building their innovation capacity and capability and developing the innovation culture within their organisation. The key output for the companies is increased competitiveness.
The programme will develop employee skills in the innovation area and thus directly address the issue of absorptive capacity within SMEs. This will be done through:
- Development and delivery of learning events and workshops to develop Innovation competence and capacity within participating companies, tailored to the specific needs of each company.
- Identification, capture and validation of innovative and added value concepts.
- Complementary in-house action based learning to develop a bespoke innovation strategy and action plan to realise novel opportunities for participating companies through the development of a real-life project.
The programme focuses on developing the knowledge and understanding of the participating companies around the key themes of Innovation Leadership.
Innovation for Competitive Enterprises - ICE Project - Promoting regional economic growth and development through the establishment of a Tri_Regional Innovation Network aimed at building the innovation capacity and capability of existing SMEs in the Northern Ireland, the six southern Border Region of Ireland and Western Scotland.
The European Union’s INTERREG IVA cross border programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body with match financial assistance from Scottish Enterprise and the accountable departments in Ireland and Northern Ireland, are funding this tri-regional innovation network project. The regions involved are the six southern border counties of Ireland to include Counties Louth, Monaghan, Cavan, Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal, Northern Ireland and Western Scotland to include Lochaber, Skye and Lochalsh, Arran and Cumbrae and Argyll and Bute, Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire mainland and South Ayrshire. The project has the direct involvement of Enterprise Ireland, Invest NI and Scottish Enterprise.
The ICE Initiative is collaboration between the University of Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian University, the University of Ulster and is led by Dundalk Institute of Technology (the ICE Partnership).
The ICE project is part-financed by the European Union's European Regional Development Fund through the INTERREG IVA Cross-border Programme managed by the Special EU Programmes Body with match financial assistance from Scottish Enterprise.