SMEs offered a total of £2m to help improve the digital customer experience

03.03.2015
Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board) has launched a competition for SMEs to support "feasibility studies looking at innovative ways to improve the user experience".

Innovate UK said: "We are looking for projects that use the increasing amount of personal data generated by individuals to gain insights into user needs and behaviours." The agency made the SME announcement hard on the heels of a similar competition for digital innovation on the railways

The competition is open to small and medium-sized enterprises individually or in collaboration with others. Proposals must be led by a business, and small businesses could receive up to 70 percent of their eligible project costs, and medium-sized businesses could receive up to 60 percent of their eligible project costs.

Innovate UK said of the total £2 million on offer: "We expect projects to last between six and 12 months and total project costs to range in amount from £90,000 to £120,000."

The competition opens for entries on 16 March and closes for applications on 6 May. There will be briefing events for potential applicants held in London, Manchester and Edinburgh on 17, 19 and 20 Match respectively.

(www.techworld.com)

Antony Savvas