Navigating the public funding landscape can be a challenging, even daunting if you are not familiar with it, process. However, as acknowledged by the engineering technology community in the UK, Europe and further afield, gaining an understanding of public funding (grant) opportunities and, importantly, the ones that could suit your business, is one of the key drivers to being able to facilitate new product, process or service innovation.
With this in mind, the TWI Innovation Network (TWIIN) is delighted to announce it has launched a new online platform, ‘Orbit’, designed specifically for TWI Industrial and TWIIN Members to get a head start on all matters related to engaging, and working, with public funding bids and collaborative project proposals.
By logging into Orbit, users from TWI Industrial and TWIIN Member companies and organisations will be the first to learn about upcoming funding opportunities for engineering and technology projects. Curated content on funding calls, including those of Horizon Europe and Innovate UK, can be accessed quickly and easily, enabling Members to ascertain the information they need to start planning around a particular concept or idea. Members who are registered on Orbit will also benefit from personal interaction with TWI’s Technology Innovation Management (TIM) team, which is instrumental in helping partners secure public funding, and offers a wealth of support for business acceleration.
Public funding activity also relies on being able to develop successful working relationships, and identify potential consortium partners with complementary skills, knowledge and experience, at other companies and organisations. With the world ever-changing and evolving, we know it’s not always easy to network with likeminded people in-person. Therefore, Orbit has also been designed to include a discussion forum on which Members can post messages and interact with each other, in order to find out what others are interested in, make new contacts and form partnerships. As a Member, you are encouraged to create a profile for your company/organisation on Orbit as this will enable others to find out more about your business, with a view to initiating new collaborations. The platform will also include information on future TWIIN events and news of recent activities.
Although the primary audience for Orbit is TWI Industrial and TWIIN Members, we also welcome users from companies and organisations who are not currently a member of TWI or TWIIN. If you fit into this category, we welcome you to register for a non-Member Orbit account, which will give you access to information on collaborative bidding training courses and TWIIN events you can register for, and enable you to find out more about our Member subscribers and the benefits of joining us.
Tat-Hean Gan, Director of Membership and Innovation at TWI explained “It is important to us and the Innovation Network that we are able to offer our Members a truly interactive, meaningful and relevant online platform – one on which they can find all the information they need in one hub – and know they can turn to for support with their public funding queries and activities.” Continuing “We also understand the importance of being able to develop meaningful business relationships in a dynamic, often virtual, environment, which is why we have included the discussion forum in Orbit.”
If you are reading this and wondering what will happen to our twi-innovation-network.com website, we are pleased to inform you that this will continue to function as normal, as our TWI corporate window on the Network. However, the ‘TAPs Members Area’ on the website will shortly be disabled, and TWI Industrial and TWIIN Members will be able to register for an account on the more interactive, public funding (grant) targeted, Orbit instead.
Looking ahead, the TWIIN website will continue to be the showcase for all the various programmes and centres that TWIIN operates, its success stories and latest news. In addition, a complete make-over is currently underway and we look forward to releasing the new website this year!
To be amongst the first to register your profile on Orbit, please ensure you sign up to our mailing list to receive the link to join.
