Innovate to Grow

Innovate to Grow is an engaging virtual learning program that helps small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) develop actionable business insights and strategies for leveraging research and development (R&D) to meet specific business needs.

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The next program commences in March 2021 and is for SMEs working in Mining and METS.

The next program commences in March 2021 and is for SMEs working in Mining and METS.

With the help of experienced researchers and innovation experts, participants identify real technical and/or business challenges, explore what R&D and innovation opportunities exist to overcome those challenges, and develop actionable business and funding plans to activate those opportunities.

This program is designed for established SMEs who are either interested in understanding their R&D opportunities or are in the early decision-making stages about engaging in an R&D project with a research organisation.

Each program will bring together SMEs and industry experts from a specific industry sector. The next program commences in March 2021 and is for SMEs working in Mining and METS.

Innovate to Grow is delivered in partnership with Australian edtech start-up Practera , using their experiential learning platform to facilitate high quality project learning collaboration.

Program detail

The program is self-paced and is delivered in three phases:

Phase 1: Program preparation

• Participants will be provided with an on-boarding session, pre-workshop videos, materials and questionnaires to assist in preparing for the program
• Time commitment is approximately two hours

Phase 2: Half-day workshop

• The program’s main compulsory component is a half-day workshop covering the program concept. Participants will hear from CSIRO industry and research experts as well as relevant industry SMEs. Key topics include trends within your industry sector, a panel discussion with collaborating SMEs, and current funding opportunities for R&D.
• Time commitment is approximately five hours

Phase 3: Self-paced 60 day online program

• Participants will work through the online innovation program at their own pace, supported by CSIRO experts and experienced innovation facilitators to develop and test their research ideas and business cases.
• Optional fortnightly webinars on topics such as how to write a funding proposal and expert insights into your industry
• Final wrap-up session
• Time commitment is approximately 1-2 hours per week

Participants will walk away from the program with a suite of tools to enable ongoing innovation planning in their business, including:

• Innovation Value Template to define innovation opportunities and assess their business value
• Business Case Template to assess and compare innovation opportunities for your business
• Funding Plan Template to understand key data and funding requirements, and prepare for a funding application
• Detailed Project Budgeting and ROI Calculation Templates

What program participants are saying

Find out more and apply

The next Innovate to Grow program is for SMEs working in the Mining and METS sector and will commence in March 2021. Applications are now open

Register your interest

To register your interest for future programs, please provide your Expression of Interest and we will be in touch.