Innovation strategy

Yorkshire Forward funds Yorkshire Innovation, the regional science and innovation council for Yorkshire & Humber. Its vision is:

“To drive Yorkshire & Humber towards sustainable economic growth through knowledge-intensive businesses, with innovation as its primary engine".

Yorkshire Innovation champions the use of innovation in all aspects of business to increase the competitiveness of the Yorkshire & Humber region. They developed the Regional Innovation Strategy to highlight specific areas which businesses need to address in order to become more successful.

Read our page about the Regional Innovation Strategy.

4 main themes

  • Business innovation—promoting the region's innovation culture through a network of high-profile innovation champions, who encourage innovative ways of working to help businesses maintain a competitive edge
  • Innovation hubs—identifying hubs where support will be available to businesses to encourage and develop innovation, in areas such as creativity, design, leadership, financial management and regulation
  • Working with Europe—encouraging organisations across Yorkshire & Humber to participate fully in the EU Framework programmes, gain funding for innovation, and form strategic alliances with other European regions
  • Northern collaboration—promoting collaboration between the science councils of the three Northern regions (North West, North East and Yorkshire & Humber) in order to increase our ability to innovate and prosper.

Yorkshire Innovation’s objectives

  • To set the strategy for innovation and research in the region, decide on priorities for the future, and advise Yorkshire Forward accordingly
  • To suggest how to attract talent and investment into the region
  • To champion the region at national and international levels
  • To encourage collaboration between the region’s business community and universities, using scientific knowledge to increase competitiveness
  • To develop and lead a communication process which will raise the profile of the region’s science base regionally, nationally and internationally.

Yorkshire Innovation’s Council

The council members—gathered from universities, business and the public sector—provide a united voice in representing the region’s business, innovation and research base.