At Rail Forum, we understand that the current industry landscape presents both challenges and opportunities. To thrive in this environment, the UK rail industry must embrace innovation to enhance customer experience, achieve cost efficiencies, and meet sustainability goals. Our Innovation Workstream is dedicated to supporting our members in navigating these challenges and seizing opportunities for growth and improvement.
Capability & Innovation Brochure - 1st Edition
Rail Forum's rail supply chain Capability & Innovation Brochure features case studies from member organisations that can help drive improvements in our industry.
Members will be invited to contribute to a 2nd edition of this brochure.
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Dedicated Innovation Support
We are thrilled to announce that our members now have access to the expertise of Ian Evley, an Innovation and Growth Specialist from Innovate UK Business Growth. Ian's role is to help our members navigate the innovation support landscape, access funding, and overcome barriers. This dedicated support is a significant value-add for our members, especially the 57% who are SMEs.
Ian Evley, Innovation and Growth Specialist at Innovate UK Business Growth, states:
"I am delighted to be collaborating with Rail Forum to highlight the opportunities for innovative SMEs within the rail sector. Through our collaboration, we aim to leverage our respective strengths to target existing resources in a more meaningful and purposeful way for the benefit of rail sector engaged businesses nationwide."
Catherine Appleby, Membership & Engagement Director at Rail Forum, adds:
"Our members have diverse capabilities and represent an incredible resource for innovating rail operations and performance. By partnering with Innovate UK and Ian, we provide real support for our members, helping them develop new products and services, access funding, and receive guidance. Combined with our wider innovation workstream, we are confident our members will have every opportunity to bring forward innovation."
Key Initiatives and Activities
This year, the ERCI – European Railway Clusters Initiative is once again presenting the ERCI Innovation Awards for innovations in rail systems technology. The contest is open to SMEs and Large Enterprises.
- Are you a company from one of the ERCI member clusters regions?
- Have you recently developed an innovative product/project or an innovative service for use in the rail transport sector?
- Are you on the verge of launching this innovation on the market or already beyond (TRL=7 or higher)?
Then apply for the regional/national contests for this year’s ERCI Innovation Awards. You might also apply as a consortium of business and science - check out last year's winners.
View Submissions Page Here
Events with specific innovation focus, including our Annual Conference which features Expo and Demo Zones, as well as planned visits to rail testing and demonstrator sites with members.
Mobilise is open: an accelerator programme designed for SMEs, start-ups and university spinouts developing early-stage, zero-emission technologies or Connected and Automated Mobility (CAM) products, services and solutions.
See the brochure for more details.
Transit Tech Lab are looking for companies that can help the MTA, Port Authority of NY & NJ, NJ Transit, and NYC DOT accurately measure, capture, and improve paid ridership and that can help digitise manual inspection and maintenance processes.
*** Applications are open until February 27.
Future Plans
Throughout the membership year, we will introduce further elements of our innovation workstream, such as networking events and SME challenges. We look forward to seeing the positive outcomes for our members as a result of this collaborative partnership with Innovate UK.
Any Questions?
For any queries relating to the Rail Forum Innovation workstream, please contact: cat@railforum.uk