Kieran Donoghue, CEO
How can collaboration boost innovation in Northern Ireland?
On 1 October 2025, Innovate UK, the Department for the Economy, and Invest NI released The Collaborative Innovation Plan for Northern Ireland.
This isn’t just another strategy document. It’s our shared commitment to accelerate sustainable and inclusive innovation in Northern Ireland.
It builds on our strengths, addresses our challenges, and creates the conditions for innovation to thrive across the whole region.
Innovation is not a luxury – it’s a necessity. It’s how we respond to global challenges, drive productivity, create good jobs, build a sustainable future, and ensure Northern Ireland remains competitive on the world stage.
A collaborative business ecosystem
From the Kelvin Scale to pulsars, Northern Ireland has a celebrated history of innovation. To stay competitive and future-proof our industries, we must encourage innovation to thrive.
Accelerating innovation and skills is a strategic priority for Invest NI. In 2024, we launched our three-year Business Strategy, which set out clear objectives for how we will support businesses in Northern Ireland. We want to drive productivity by harnessing innovation and skills. Our broad range of support, programmes and practical advice will help companies become innovation-active and to invest in R&D.
This Collaborative Innovation Plan builds on the momentum of our 2024/25 end-of-year results, which show high levels of business engagement, increased R&D investment, and a surge in innovation activity across key sectors.
Through our programmes, we supported 726 innovation and R&D projects, representing £245m worth of investment in 2024/25.
But innovation can’t happen in isolation. It requires a connected ecosystem by bringing together government, industry, academia and communities for collaborative growth – this is the foundation of the Collaborative Innovation Plan.
We are already seeing the positive impact of previous collaborations, which have led to significant investments in innovation infrastructure in Northern Ireland.
One such example is the UK Digital Twin Centre based in Belfast, a project expected to drive the next wave of industrial transformation by boosting digital twin technology. It is projected to reach £62 million in GVA for the economy over the next decade.
Additionally, last year, the Northern Ireland Life and Health Sciences Launchpad was established by Invest NI and the Health Innovation Research Alliance Northern Ireland (HIRANI), with support from Innovate UK’s Launchpad programme. A total investment of £7.5 million was secured to accelerate life and health science innovation projects led by businesses to promote economic growth in the life sciences innovation cluster centred in Northern Ireland.
And, due to our collaboration, Northern Ireland has become one of the UK’s strongest-performing regions for Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, with 40 live projects and over 350 completed since 2003.
These aren’t just statistics – these numbers represent real businesses, real jobs, and are having a real impact on our business ecosystem.
They prove that our shared agenda can transform industries, create new opportunities, and position Northern Ireland as a leader in advanced technologies.
Inclusive and accessible innovation support
Since Northern Ireland is predominantly a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) economy, we want to ensure that the support we provide for innovation is inclusive and accessible to businesses of all sizes.
Invest NI hosts Innovate UK’s Business Growth service, working directly with ambitious businesses to help them grow, scale and commercialise innovations, complementing Invest NI’s client services.
We also view the City and Growth Deals as vehicles for sectoral and regional development.
The Deals represent a £1.3 billion investment in innovation across Northern Ireland in the seven high-potential sectors identified in the Collaborative Plan.
The new global centres of excellence created under the Deals, such as the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre and the Centre for Digital Healthcare Technology, have the potential to revolutionise business operations and diffuse innovation in the wider NI economy.
What we can achieve together
A report by the Enterprise Research Centre demonstrated the complementarity of Invest NI and Innovate UK funding. Invest NI support increases the likelihood of receiving Innovate UK grants.
To demonstrate our commitment to working in partnership with Innovate UK and the Department for the Economy, Invest NI established an Innovation Funding Advisory Service to support local businesses to engage with Innovate UK and other funders to increase their chances of securing financial support for R&D.
This team, with support from our Sector and City and Growth teams, will deliver the activities of this Collaborative Innovation Plan.
Together, we are building an ecosystem that is connected, collaborative, and capable. One that is ready to seize the opportunities of the future, from artificial intelligence and digital health to sustainable agriculture and clean energy.
Northern Ireland is ready. Ready to lead, ready to innovate, and ready to grow. We have the talent, the partnerships, and the ambition.
Now we have the plan.
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