The government has launched a new research fund, challenging UK innovators to find ways to cut the cost and time taken to build new infrastructure and buildings. The Industrialising and Digitising Construction Research and Innovation Challenge was first announced as part of a suite of investments last week at UK Research and Innovation’s growth summit. Share of £4m pot will go towards work on industrialising and digitising sector.
The Challenge Fund has just been launched. Cardiff University Business hosted the engagement session at the Business School, and a recording is available here should it be useful.
Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuBKmNb-sHg
Kellie Beirne and Dr Gavin Powell from Cardiff Capital Region held the session, contact HERE.
The Challenge Fund through UKRI, published on the DSIT website.
Innovators backed to grow UK economy by cutting construction costs
- UK innovators are being backed to safely cut the costs and time it takes to build new infrastructure and buildings, in a new research challenge aimed at driving economic growth and making a real difference to people’s lives.
- The announcements are part of the government’s £500 million Research and Development Missions Accelerator Programme, which is backing research and innovation to tackle the biggest challenges facing the country, driving national renewal and kickstarting economic growth as part of our modern Industrial Strategy.
- The Industrialising and Digitising Construction Research and Innovation Challenge will bring together the construction industry, manufacturers and the public sector to create a digital marketplace that allows industrialised building components and processes to be developed and delivered at scale.
- As part of an initial £4 million challenge fund, the platform will allow construction, manufacturing and digital firms and suppliers to develop, share and configure standardised digital designs for infrastructure and buildings – reducing errors, cutting waste, and speeding up delivery of major projects.
- By introducing manufacturing approaches to construction and providing certainty of demand and specification for suppliers, enabling them to scale production, the challenge aims to deliver 10% savings in construction costs and time for government-funded projects like social housing, schools, hospitals, and transport infrastructure by 2030.
- The platform will also verify that building products meet safety and quality standards, making it quicker and easier for the sector to check they’re using the right materials.
- The fund will also support our Creative Content Exchange Research and Innovation Challenge, to develop the infrastructure for the Government’s creative content exchange.
Science Minister Lord Vallance said:
“We’re backing UK Science and Tech innovators to help transform how we build the homes, hospitals and infrastructure our country needs by developing novel solutions in construction that will cut costs, speed up delivery and improve people’s lives.
“By bringing together industry, academics and the public sector, we’re backing innovative ways of building that will help grow the economy and deliver for communities across the UK. This is an example of science and technology research and development can benefit every part of our economy.”