Transport iNet
About Transprot iNet
Around 38,000 people work in the transport industry in the East Midlands, and the region not only has some of the finest research and development facilities in world for this sector, but is home to some of the biggest international names in everything from car manufacture to aerospace engineering. In order for this sector to grow at the pace that it is capable of, specialists within the region need to share their knowledge and work together. Transport iNet is the tool that aims to do this.
Transport iNet brings together businesses, sector organisations and universities, all with a common area of interest, innovation expertise and capability within this market sector. Its work is guided by a Strategic Advisory Panel (SAP) whose members cover a cross-section of the transport industry: aerospace, automotive, marine, motorsport and rail. The overall objective of Transport iNet is to increase the level of innovation in the East Midlands and in doing so, improve business competitiveness, margins, sustainability and growth.
Transport iNet is set up to allow individual sectors to work together, share ideas, technologies, intelligence, innovation and create a link between operational industries and the academic community. This is quite a challenge for the transport industry as its different sectors can be extremely diverse, with different aims, customers and supply chains. However there are areas of common interest, for example environmentally friendly power generation or sourcing stronger and light materials for use in manufacturing.
Transport iNet was established in early 2009 it is able to help businesses working in this sector to flourish and drive the East Midlands economy forward.
Their Services
Advice – there is a team of specialist Innovation Advisors that are there to work with SMEs to help ensure their innovation is successful. Their time is free and using their innovation and sector knowledge can have a significant impact on your business.
Support – the Innovation Advisors can guide you towards possible financial and non-financial support mechanisms for your business including Transprt iNet's own Innovation Support Fund. This fund is setup to assist companies with the financial burden of bringing in external expertise to improve the quality and speed of their innovative project. Need some design work, consultancy, testing or prototyping - then this fund could make it happen.
Collaboration – they strive to improve the connection between the region’s universities and companies. They have strong networks into all the universities and can find the expertise needed by your company. They also provide funding on a call basis to encourage significant collaborative projects between universities and industry.
Development – they recognise that companies don’t always have the resources to fully commercially develop their innovative products and services so we have pulled together a panel of leading industry consultants to assist. They can fund 2 days of their time with your business to develop routes into new supply chains for your company and/or product.