Landmark agreement between Greater Manchester and Innovate UK to promote innovation and R&D in the city-region | Daily News Byte

Greater Manchester’s growing innovation ecosystem has taken another major step by signing an agreement with Innovate UK, the UK’s national innovation agency.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), Innovation Greater Manchester and Innovate UK commits the parties to close collaboration to support business innovation.

The agreement seeks to strengthen research and innovation clusters across Greater Manchester and accelerate investments around long-term innovation development.

The region’s universities will be at the heart of the city’s innovation ecosystem. The University of Manchester, together with GMCA and Innovate UK, will continue to build on its existing world-class tradition of commercializing research. In the past year alone, the university has created ten new spin-out companies.

The parties have also agreed to work on a shared plan for the period up to 2030, which will set out how the development of innovation assets in Greater Manchester will inform Innovate UK activities.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, CEO of Innovate UK Indro Mukherjee and Chair of Greater Manchester Business Board (GM LEP) Lou Cordwell signed the agreement today (Friday 2 December) at a special event held at Graphene Engineering. Innovation Center (GEIC) at the University of Manchester. GEIC is a facility that helps companies develop new technologies, products and processes that exploit the properties of graphene and other 2D materials.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “This agreement will strengthen the collaboration between Greater Manchester and Innovate UK and in doing so will help deliver a high-growth, high-wage economy driven by innovation.

“Going back to the First Industrial Revolution, Greater Manchester has a proud history of industry and innovation. More recently we have pioneered the development of graphene, and are emerging strengths in areas such as advanced manufacturing, health innovation and the digital and creative industries.

“Country leveling means rebalancing R&D spending so regions can realize their potential. Innovation drives sustainable growth, leading to better quality jobs and rising wages, raising living standards for people across Greater Manchester.”

Professor Luke Georgiou, Deputy President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester, said: “This is another important step for Greater Manchester’s innovation ecosystem which is all about partnerships. The University of Manchester will continue to work to ensure we are a globally renowned hub for creating innovations that address society’s greatest challenges.

Indro Mukherjee, CEO of Innovate UK said: “Innovate UK is building strong regional partnerships across the UK to support local innovation and commercialisation. The agreement with Greater Manchester is a good example of this and our commitment to making the UK equal.

“I am delighted to be working closely with Mayor Andy Burnham, Cllr Bev Craig and Lou Cordwell to help deliver growth and productivity through innovation in Greater Manchester.”