The Digital Surge Programme aims to dispel ‘innovation’ misconception

Over 70 Northern Ireland businesses have already signed up to The Digital Surge Programme which aims to dispel the ‘innovation’ misconception.

Offering advanced technologies mentoring sessions and masterclasses, the programme is part funded by Invest Northern Ireland, the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth & Jobs Northern Ireland (2014-2020) Programme and the 11 Councils.

It focuses solely on advanced technologies and their potential role in accelerating a business.

Charlie Tuxworth, one of the programme’s leading mentors, explained: “Innovation is often made out to be difficult, something that requires a special kind of mindset, or a guru. That’s simply not correct. Innovation is a process, and a set of skills that can be learned and applied the same as any other discipline.

“One of the key attributes of this programme is that we have seen a really broad range of companies come onboard, from those in their infancy to well-established organisations. From media, engineering, tourism, food, and health sectors etc.; all come away with greater insights and clear pointers on how to “think differently” about the challenges they’re facing.”

It also appeals to those that are simply looking for baseline knowledge in these areas, with guidance on how one or more could be implemented into its businesses processes

Along with big Ddta, the other technologies at the core of the Digital Surge Programme are blockchain, the internet of things, artificial intelligence / machine learning, data analytics, virtual reality / immersive tech and Rrobotics.

One business that signed up to the programme is Newtownabbey firm, Acksen. Richard Phillips, principal software engineer at Acksen, continued: “We are keen to expand into new markets as well as offer improvements to how we operate or produce products for our customer. We can see a number of new challenges arising with limited solutions available to our target audiences. As an organisation we have a number of concepts in the pipeline that we want to make a reality but are keen to see what technology is accessible to us in order to streamline our business model.

“Through undertaking the Digital Surge Programme, we hope to gain a deep knowledge around the various technologies and how these could be integrated in a cost-effective way into our current and future processes.

“As an organisation we are on a journey, and by improving our knowledge now we can, through the help of the programme, put in place a roadmap. We don’t wish to adopt a top-down approach. We are keen to create an optimal approach that will ensure future success, so we want to use this programme to focus on the technologies that will be most suitable for us now and in the future.”

Charlie added: “Contrary to popular belief - we don’t need to be inventing anything in order to innovate. This programme highlights that significant levels of innovation can be achieved by utilising transformative technologies that other people have invented.”

There are some places available on the programme. If you have under 50 employees and are based in Northern Ireland you can apply now via: https://bit.ly/digitalsurgeprogramme

The project, led by Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough Council, is also funded by all local councils in Northern Ireland.