Manufacturing Made Smarter Innovation Hubs – a report for Innovate UK

Cambridge Industrial Innovation Policy have launched a report to help navigate Innovate UK’s new support mechanism within the Manufacturing Made Smarter (MMS) ISCF challenge initiative: Innovation Hubs.

The digital revolution is underway and has the potential to positively affect the UK’s economy and productivity. Innovation Hubs have become an increasingly prevalent innovation policy tool for the roll out of industrial digitalisation.

Innovate UK’s proposed Innovation Hubs will be related to the following themes: the ‘Smart Flexible Factory’; and the ‘Digital Supply Chain’. Each of the Innovation Hubs will have its own national network of test beds, living labs or other facilities to develop, demonstrate and test new solutions for digitising these manufacturing functions.

This report explores the scope and governance models of Innovation Hubs by investigating different international organisations that focus on digital manufacturing and identifying their missions, funding sources, governance structures, functions and services.

The report will contribute to the identification of potential design principles, ‘business models’, and lessons learned, which might inform the development of UK MMS Innovation Hubs.