Close to £4m of funding has been approved for a new ESRC Network Plus called "InterAct" to bring an economic and social science dimension to the £147 million Made Smarter Innovation programme, which will be led by co-directors Professor Jill MacBryde of Strathclyde and Professor Jan Godsell of Loughborough.
The overall aim of the Made Smarter (MS) challenge is to help UK manufacturing become more productive and competitive through the innovation and diffusion of digital technology. MS also needs to support manufacturing to achieve Net Zero by 2050. Whilst technology is important, there are many social and economic factors that will be hugely influential in achieving these aims.
InterAct seeks to “pioneer human insight for industry” and is a call to arms for academics from the social sciences to support the innovation and diffusion of digital technologies that will result in a stronger, more resilient, manufacturing base. Working alongside other partners within the Made Smarter community, the long-term vision is to build a strong, vibrant, interdisciplinary community to support UK manufacturing.
This is an exciting £3.83m, 38 month programme of work that will commence on November 1 2021 and end on December 31 2024. The co-directors will be supported by a dedicated Network Management Team and a core research team from Loughborough, Strathclyde and Sheffield Universities. Professor Colin Lindsay of Strathclyde Business School's SCER (Scottish Centre for Employment Research) is working with Jill on the core research programme and Robert Stewart, also of SCER, is being taken on as a research associate.
Jan and Jill spent five months talking to stakeholders, understanding their needs and co-designing the network. Between March and July 2021 they interviewed over 30 stakeholders, held a town hall event, two stakeholder co-design workshops, a nudgeathon and a validation workshop. T
Jill commented, “Our long-term vision is to build a strong, vibrant, interdisciplinary community to support UK manufacturing in the adoption and development of digital technologies that will result in a stronger, more resilient, manufacturing base. We know that technology alone is not enough. We need to harness the knowledge of people and society to really reap the full benefits that technology can bring. Whilst there are clear advantages of this network for the economy, manufacturers and technology providers, there are also benefits for the academic communities. Collaborative working, new challenges and contexts will open up new avenues for world leading research.”
Jan added, “Looking to the future, our aspirations for InterAct is a community with clear added-value for all, where stakeholder groups want to engage and be part of the MSN+. We will embed diversity and inclusivity. Diversity of thought will bring benefits of multiple perspectives. Inclusivity will help us to embrace and collaborate with existing research groupings, rather than compete with them. Participation will be based on expertise, not status, and we will seek to develop people at all stages of their careers. Our vision of success would be that the InterAct is seen as a partner of choice - easy to work with, welcoming, and professional. Ultimately, we would like to be seen as a one-stop shop that curates existing & emerging knowledge and capabilities (research and education) and showcases leading practice.”
Chris Courtney, Challenge Director for Made Smarter Innovation, said, “ Digital technologies have the power to radically transform how we manufacture and deliver the products and services of the future and deliver a more resilient, prosperous economy with fundamental changes to the nature of work. A key part of delivering an optimal future in manufacturing will be enabled by harnessing the insights from the broader economic, social, regulatory and political sciences. I’m delighted to see the launch of InterAct and to welcome Jan and Jill to the overall effort as co-directors, combining two of our leading academics in this space bringing leadership, insight with a passion for manufacturing. I’m excited to get this work underway and to support Jill and Jan as they reach out to the broad network of capability to engage and shape a vital and exciting programme of work.”
InterAct is a call to arms for people to come together and interact to ensure that the full range and depth of social and economic science insights are accessed across the Made Smarter challenge and wider UK manufacturing sector. InterAct will also play a key role in developing and supporting the creation of an effective digital innovation ecosystem to accelerate the innovation and diffusion of Industrial Digital Technologies. The network will officially launch during Digital Manufacturing Week in Liverpool.